Me and You
by iceCandyxx
Summary: In all of her life, Sakura has never met such a rude, misunderstood outcast. Yet, Gaara has never met anyone as persistent and kind as Sakura. There's no way she can just forget him and no chance he'll let her go.
1. Chapter 1

_I sat alone on my bed listening to a low hum, it sounded like it was coming from outside. I wasn't cold, but I wrapped my arms around myself and walked over to the window across the room from my bed. Now I felt it, the chill of the air outside. The wind brushed against my cheeks, making me shiver. I tried pulling the window down and suddenly two strong hands took my wrists, or they sure did look strong, the shock made my breath hitch. There was a boy in front of me! The chilly breeze picked up making it difficult for me to see his face. His hair was short, but long enough to look shaggy, it was a deep red color, that and I could tell he was wearing black clothes. Everything else I couldn't make out. Why was it so hard to see him? Then I realized I couldn't feel his hold on me. He started pulling me out of the opening in the window –_

The sound of rainfall filled my room, I had just fallen asleep.

My eyes burst open, the room was so cold! I was shivering so much it must have caused me to wake up, still lying down I arched my back and stretched. Now I really was cold. All I had on was a white undershirt and lime green shorts. I sat up removing the covers, and lazily walked over to my window. It kind of felt like déjà vu, but except this time instead of in my dream as I crossed the room I passed a mirror I had and looked at myself. My long pink hair was a mess, but it was sort of cute. I smiled, _but_ yet _again. _I pressed my hands to my chest and felt nothing. I had no breasts. I was flat. Well, not really, I've finally reached a B cup.. but still everyone else was pushing a decent C! How was it that every other girl in our area had noticeable breasts and not me? And I don't even have to get started on the growth rate they had that unfortunately I didn't. Oh well.. I shivered again and hurried to the window.

It looked like it was almost six outside, the gray clouds let small dim light escape, and looking down to the floor there were drops of rain. I rolled my eyes. It's not that I didn't love rain, it's just that I didn't want it in my room, but thankfully my floors are wooden so I could just dry it up. _Finally_ I have successfully shut the window, I smiled again in achievement. Slowly I walked over to the foot of my bed and let myself fall on top of it. _That was a weird dream. _I don't really dream about boys. At least not about the boys in this place, I don't really like anyone. I just moved here. Duh. I slapped my hands on my face. _Hooooofuh_. I did that harder than I though I would have.

"Hooooo.." I rubbed my face with both hands. Only four more days until I'm registered in school. I couldn't lie, not to myself. I was nervous. Not a lot of people would take easy to a new girl with pink hair, but then again, so far Konoha seems to have a lot of kind people. Thinking about pink made me think of my name. Sakura. Sakura tree.. Pink petals.. Suddenly I felt proud of my name, being named after a cherry tree was cool, cherries are yummy, pink blossoms are gorgeous, and trees are strong. Silently I thanked my mom and my dad for my name. Sakura Haruno. _I should probably get out of bed it's probably almost time for dinner. _Not much later the gentle smell of miso soup and fresh rice slipped into my room, followed by a simple hint of wasabi. Dad's probably going to make sushi tonight. A sinking feeling came to my stomach all of a sudden. Mom and dad never made this combination unless something really bad has happened or their up front pay back for something bad _about_ to happen. I don't think I'm going to be hungry tonight..

I opened my door slowly to see if I could hear anything they might say that I could use as a hint to figure out what was going on. They weren't talking, it was quiet, really quiet. I put on my slippers outside my door and began my way down to the kitchen. Walking in awkwardly I looked at them, unanimously they both looked at me, "Good evening sweetie!" –this isn't good. "Have a seat Sakura, we'll bring your food." Dad said rather kindly. I mean, he's a nice guy, but this was a little weird. In the end, all of the food was great. Dad and mom knew how to cook really well, dinner with them is always the best. Dad took care of the dishes while mom readied the dessert. Now, if mom busts out the mochi I _know _something's up. She did. Just like dinner halfway through dessert was especially uncomfortable. I wondered how much I could take it until I upchucked. This was ridiculous.

Finally one of them said something, "Honey, your father and I have something to tell you." It looked like mom was really trying to sound comforting. I didn't feel much better.

"Mmkay, mom. What is it?" I asked, hopefully I sounded like I wasn't wondering this whole time. I looked at dad, he didn't have an expression on his face.

"Your father and I.. We love you very much, and we want you to know this isn't your fault.." She looked down, I hope she wasn't going to cry, she began talking again, "You're going to be living with your grandmother, Tsunade. I mean, only until you make the decision of which of us you.. want to be with." She lost me. What? I made a face.

"Mom, what are you–" I tried to ask, but dad already knew my question and interrupted me to answer it.

"We're getting a divorce." He said.

I sat there, for probably a just a little less than a minute. I waited for one of them to burst out laughing and tell me they were joking. It felt like eternity rested itself on my shoulders, and a huge lump filled my chest. They weren't serious –they couldn't be. No.. it wasn't fair. Why? Everything was perfect! We were happy! Why? Why? Why did they have to do this now? How hard will it be for me to adjust to a new home, let alone a new city without _both_ of them? That just wasn't right! Did they want me to bleed? I bit my lip trying to keep back my tears. How horrifically random. How dare they put this on me.

My hands balled into fists, and I closed my eyes, I couldn't look at them. "Thank you for dinner." I forced out into a whisper. I stood from my chair and walked out of the kitchen. As soon as I was sure I was out of sight I ran straight to my room, slamming the door shut. Tears blinded me; I slowly dragged myself to my bed. Holding a pillow to my face, I screamed as hard as I could. I don't know how it happened but eventually I was able to cry myself to sleep. If I was lucky, maybe that was just a nightmare and when I wake up it'll all go away. Please let it go away.

It was familiar, here I was in my room again, cold wind, shadow figured boy,

the dream from the night before returned itself to me, except this time it was a continuation.

_He started pulling me out of the opening in the window –"What the?! What are you doing?!" I shrieked, we were falling and what sounded like a chuckle escaped his lips. "You're out of your mind!" I screamed. Just before we hit the ground I was sitting in a ramen stand with a fish for a cook. Wow.. I thought I felt a whiplash coming on. As if that wasn't enough the fish started talking! The ramen stand started to fade away, and I think I was in limbo. Someone walked towards me, I was facing myself! _Trippy dream…

"_What's wrong, Sakura?" My other self asked in a mocking tone. She twirled her hair in her fingers and continued, "What's your problem?"_

_I couldn't believe this, I talked back, "Mom and dad are getting a divorce! I don't get it! I don't get anything!" I wanted to pull my hair out._

"_No, I don't think that's it, honey." She said, "You're selfish. That's your problem." Other me came closer and started to shake me, "Get over yourself! It's not the end of the world. Not everything is about you! Wake up and join reality!"_

_She was strong, I'll give her that.. or myself.. she didn't have to keep shaking me though, "Okay!" I yelled at her, "Okay, okay!" I shoved her–_

"Goodness!" My mom fell back. Oops. Quickly I rubbed my eyes, I had an awful headache attached to me now, but I got out of bed to help her up. She dusted the lower half of her skirt and cleared her throat.

"Sorry, mom." Somehow I didn't feel sorry, because now I knew why she was in my room. She had more news for me. Mom sat on my bed and pats the area cuing me to sit down next to her. Reluctantly, I agreed to sit. "So, what's up?" I asked, unable to face her.

"Your dad and I decided for him and me to just move out. Grandma Tsunade is going to come live here for a while to take care of you." Oh. Because that makes me feel much better. Mom continued, "I'm going to move to Suna, and I'm not sure about your dad, he.. said something about moving to the states." I nodded to let her know I was listening. Acting indifferent wasn't going to change anything, maybe I was being selfish. Mom never made choices that would hurt me, and dad never made me feel left out. They were both wonderful parents, I guess hearing about them separating put me in shock so I lashed out at them, I deserved to, but it wasn't my place.. but still.. Anyway, just like they would let me, I should let them do whatever means necessary for them to be happy. And if happy means they're not together, so be it.

I wasn't ready to say I was sorry for my reaction though. They'd have to wait for that. "So, when is Tsunade coming?" I turned to her asking.

"She's down stairs right now." My mom said smiling at me. Geez, mom was so beautiful, she had long pink hair –luckily I was able to inherit from her, she was skinny but had awesome curves, of which, _I _don't have, at least not like hers yet. I was cute but she was out of this world. She took me in her arms and hugged me hard –sometimes I forgot how emotional she was. Oh, mom. I guess dad decided to go transfer his job while Tsunade settled in. "Hey Tsunade!" I called down to the old woman as I came down the steps. Tsunade never looked a day over thirty-five, I always see where mom gets her looks. Spending time with her was the best, I love learning new things and with her there's always a random fact here and there. Mostly, it's her knowledge in medical practices that really get my attention; Tsunade is the best medical physician and nurse in all of Konoha. I really look up to her more than anyone else other than my mother.

"Hey kiddo!" She smiled at me, holding her arms open for a hug. Ever since I was young again, other than my mothers, Tsunade's scent was the most familiar and comforting. She always smelled of light alcohol and hospital soap. It was a weird combination,but I loved it. "How've you been? Excited for school?" Tsunade winked, "You know, there are lots of cute boys!" She laughed.

I looked down and a small blush ran on my cheeks, "I'm actually.. Sort of nervous." I scratched an area behind my head, "I don't know about boys, but hey, who knows? I'm actually not interesting in looking right now either." I had a triumphant face on, "No distractions! Grades come first." And I meant that, I have a big future ahead of me, and no boy is going to get in the way of that. I'm going to be just like Tsunade, minus the drinking.

At first she looked a bit surprised but she had the same face I had on, "That's my girl!"

Mom and dad moved out the next day. Both giving me small lectures about taking care of myself, finishing homework –both knowing that I always do but being parents meaning they have to mention it anyway, getting enough sleep, eating right and something about using protection. "Why don't we get you some new clothes for school, do you need any supplies?" She whipped out her keys and wallet, "Let's head out." I laughed, Tsunade was almost too cool. I nodded at her suggestion and went up stairs to change. I threw on a black undershirt, a half buttoned up dress shirt with short sleeves, and a red scarf. Of course I couldn't forget a white skirt, my black shoes, along with a pair of black loose legwarmers. My fingers combed out easy knots in my hair and I studied myself in the mirror, _decent enough._ I ran back down stairs, I could hear Tsunade's car on and waiting for me. "Sorry about that." I said while fastening the seatbelt, she nodded and started backing out the car.

Tsunade parked and we headed inside the mall. It was huge! There were also a lot of people, I tried to ignore him but a blonde boy with blue eyes googly-eyed me from the food court, he had three other friends with him. One of them had a cute little dog tucked in his shirt with his head out, another looked bored out of his mind, and the last was stuffing his face. I giggled. The blonde waved at me probably thinking I was acknowledging his courtship stare. _Haha, not working_. It was flattering though, so I gave him a small wave back. Tsunade ran into Shizune, her best friend and decided to let myself get used to my new surroundings, and I didn't want her to get bored so she gave me some money, actually a lot of money, and let me head off on my own until we meet up later on. I spotted a HotTopic and went right in. Mostly, I spent time there choosing skirts and leggings, legwarmers if there were any, shirts too. Also a few small accessories here and there. I was having a field day. Turning from the counter I saw a boy walk in. He had deep red hair and green eyes, the same green as me. That was pretty cool. He had pale skin and the poor guy probably didn't get a lot of sleep, there were super dark rings around his eyes. His clothes were black, _all _black, and he carried a caramel colored side backpack with him. He walked over to the notebooks in the back of the room. I couldn't help but watch him for a second. If I didn't know any better everyone around him did whatever they could to avoid him, it looked like they were acting as if he was carrying a nasty incurable disease.

Two others followed him in, a blonde girl and brown haired boy. Probably his siblings? They didn't look that much alike, but everyone in the whole mall seemed to be afraid of him. I wondered what their problem was. I'll most likely never see him again, I thought as I walked out. There was another blonde girl about to enter The Icing and she spotted me, made a weird but decent face and headed over towards me. I didn't know what to do, was she going to say something about my hair? I tried to think she was looking at someone else, I started to walk.

"Hey! Pinky!" The blonde called after me. Nope, she was looking at me. I turned around to see her, "You're not from around here are you?" She asked. I wasn't expecting that.

"Um.. no. I just moved here." I scratched the back of my head, "What gave me away?"

"The hair." She smiled and touched it. I winced but it looked like she liked it, "It's cute! I've never seen natural hair like this.. You don't dye it do you? It looks too healthy to be dyed." She said thoughtfully. I smiled at her.

"Yeah, it's natural." I replied, "And thank you..?"

"Oh!" She laughed and introduced herself, "I'm Ino Yamanaka, and you are?" She held out her hand for me to take.

"Sakura Haruno." I shook her hand, "Nice to meet you." I told her.

"It's nice to meet you too, Sakura!" Ino crushed me in a hug, "We're gonna be awesome friends, babe." She had a big smile, but it was pretty, a lot of girls marveled at Ino when she passed by them and a guy or two would give her a double look. Ino was really fun, she let me know what the necessary supplies I would need at school and we bought them together, in the end we spent the rest of the time waiting for Tsunade to pick me up. Ino and I sat around the outer boundaries of the food court. Ino talked on and on about hair products and boys, especially about a Sasuke Uchiha. Apparently everybody loved him. She said Sasuke was one of the three wealthiest boys in Konoha, he was the best at almost anything, and the only sad fact was no girl in the entire city was good enough for the guy. My eyes widened, how shallow is that? I told Ino about the blonde boy I had seen earlier with his three friends and he was also one of the three richest boys in the city, his name was Naruto Uzumaki, he was a goofball, but a very sweet guy. Naruto was nice to everybody and always had a certain confidence about him, he was also known to be a pretty skilled prankster. Sasuke and Naruto butt heads a lot but tolerate each other, she said, and sometimes even hang out. I wanted to ask Ino about the red haired boy, would she know him? She seemed to know everyone else, I hoped she wasn't avoiding talking about him like the people in the mall were just trying to ignore him. Maybe it's better I don't know.

"Hey is that your grandma right there?" she asked pointing behind me, on the opposite side of the mall, although was close enough to recognize. I nodded and waved at Tsunade, Ino was astonished, "There's no way! She looks so young! I mean, no offense it's just, that's really cool!" She added. I laughed and we both came out of our seats to go and meet her. I was so distracted while talking to Ino I didn't see someone walk right in front of me–

I heard a low, deep grunt from my poor victim of uncoordinated poise. "OooF!" A sound was yanked out of me, what a surprise that was. The boy and I had bumped shoulders and were brought around and butt heads. I rubbed my forehead, "I'm so sorry about that! I didn't see you –I'm such a klutz!" I had a better look at him, it was the boy with red hair! Ino quickly sat next to me to see if I was all right, as soon as she saw the redhead she gasped, it sounded like she had seen a monster. What a surprise, Ino apologized as much as she could.

He stopped her apologetic yapping, "_Get the hell away from me_." His words were thick with poison. The redhead picked himself up and walked away, disappearing from sight. I sat there in awe while Ino got up too, she held her hand out to me, and I realized why people avoided him. What a jerk!

"What crawled up his butt and died?" I asked unbelievably, "Who is that guy?" I dusted myself, "The nerve of him! He should have been watching too!"

Ino sighed, "That guy was Gaara Sabaku. He's part of the super rich group with Naruto and Sasuke. Gaara's family probably has more money than Naruto and Sasuke's family combined. Don't pay too much mind to him, he's a social outcast and is mean to everybody. He's a psychopathic spawn of Satan. You've probably noticed that no one talks to him or dares to even get within a ten foot radius." I had to laugh at that, nobody was _that_ awful, he probably has a good reason to be mad, but that still doesn't mean he can go around being rude to people.

"Does he go to our school?" I asked her as we reached Tsunade and Shizune.

"Unfortunately." Ino made a face, "Gaara is a junior, but he'll probably have to take the same year again because he doesn't do anything, he never participates." She smiled, "Well, enough about that creepy bum. I'll see you at school..?"

"Day after tomorrow." I replied, "Nice meeting you, Ino." We hugged each other.

"See you around, Sakura!" She said back, Ino and I exchanged numbers and went on our way. I fell asleep on our way back home. I had short dreams about Ino, the boys and girls I had seen at the mall, and eventually that awful Gaara Sabaku. A bump on the driveway woke me up. I took the bags of clothes, thanked Tsunade for everything today and headed up to my room. Exhaustion was my middle name right now; I threw the bags on the floor and flopped on my bed. _What a day._ Not a minute later I drifted off to sleep.

_It was dark. The time was probably very late into the evening; pale, dim lights surrounded me. I was walking on a pathway to what looked like a traditional Konoha mansion, I had never seen such a gorgeous home in my life! I opened my mouth to say, "Wow." But no sound came out, I tried to talk, say other things. There was nothing. Giving up I just continued walking ahead, fountains and trees rested in the courtyard. I picked a fountain to rest on and wait till this dream was over, and I heard someone come closer to me from behind. I turned around –Gaara?! My eyes widened and I backed up a little, I'm not a very talented lip reader, but he put his hands up in a way to assure me that everything is fine. Gaara walked even closer to me, bent down on one knee and took my hand. I blushed as I watched him, he was studying each curve, line, whatever he could find; his eyes had certain softness to them. Slow and steadily he lifted my hand to his lips, placing a gentle kiss from the middle of my hand to the end of my fingers. I blushed even more, I couldn't take this, not that it wasn't enjoyable…? No! He was a jerk! As I started to remember everything from the day before, Gaara and everything else in this toxic dream began to blur and disappear. _

_Right before consciousness wrapped itself around me I thought, whether or not he really was that bad, and if maybe all he needed was a chance._


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! This is my very first Gaara and Sakura fanfiction ^^- I just love this couple, gosh darn it! Anyway, since this is my first fanfiction for this couple, and in Naruto altogether, this might not be great..? But I promise I'm working really hard, and I love the show so much and I adore these characters. Things start to really get rolling in the up coming chapters so I'm really excited! I'm going to work fast but hard and diligently. Right now I have this fanfic rated M for mostly every reason so I think you know what to expect but be sure to be ready for some surprises! Also I'm not very okay with cursing –anyway anyway! I really hope you enjoy :]**

**Also thank you for the reviews! I'd like to give a shout out to ****Akasuna no Akane****, and ****nops****!**

**One more thing: [[[I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!]]]**

**- - - - - -**

I glared at the ceiling. Why on earth would I have a dream like that? Bringing my left hand to my face to look it over. Ugh. I shivered. Seriously. What was that all about? I started to have flashbacks with what I could remember –_he was studying each curve, line, whatever he could find; his eyes had certain softness to them. Slow and steadily he lifted my hand to his lips, placing a gentle kiss from the middle of my hand to the end of my fingers_. Eek! I shook my head and covered my face. Okay, so maybe I'm just overreacting to this, perfectly normal people had dreams about other people who've made a truly horrible experience on their first meeting.. _Yeah. This is nothing_. I probably looked so ridiculous trying to figure myself out, truthfully the dream wouldn't have been unbearable if Gaara hadn't been so mean yesterday. Now that I think about it, it really was my fault, I mean, he was just walking out of a store, usually the people out side walking past should watch out for them. I'll apologize to him tomorrow if we run into each other at school I decided. Oh! I should probably get my things ready for tomorrow morning. I hopped out of bed and checked out my sleeping damage in the mirror. As always, my hair was a bit messy, and I adored what breasts I had. I decided to name them since they were big enough. I laughed at myself. B cups weren't half bad, I smiled. _The Twins_. Haha, of course the only one calling them that would be me, but I also wouldn't tell anyone that I'd named them in the first place. An empty feeling touched my stomach, I was really hungry, I didn't get to eat much yesterday. Reaching into my dresser I pulled out a pair of socks and slipped them on and headed downstairs to grab something to eat.

Tsunade had a bag on her shoulder and keys jingling in her hand, she turned to greet me, "Morning, little one." She smiled, "I'm heading off to work, are you going anywhere today?"

"Nope, I think I'm just gonna stick around today and get prepared for school tomorrow." I said taking out a bowl of cereal and heading to the refrigerator for milk. "Don't work yourself too hard all right? And try not to drink around the patients during break if you can get around it." I teased, Tsunade rolled her eyes and agreed, as if she was really going to listen to me. We waved goodbye as she walked out the door. I listened for the car engine to roar to life and watch her back out and drive away. Silly woman. Welp, she wasn't the only one who had things to do today, I took another bite of cereal. I laid out a list of things to do in my head; eat –check, decide on what to wear tomorrow, organize my school items into my side backpack, it had black and white checkers all over it, my backpack was sexy. I also needed to get my schedule, but I guess I could just do that at school. Pretty much I was set until I want to take a shower and hit the sack.

Just then the phone started ringing, I ran over to answer it, "Hello?"

"Hey is this Sakura?" A familiar voice asked, it was Ino.

"Hiya, Ino. What's shakin'?" I asked my new blonde friend. I cleaned out my cereal bowl and put the Lucky Charms box away.

"Not much, I'm just really bored." Ino replied, "Haha, I was thinkin' about you." She said laughing, "I just wanted to just say Welcome to Konoha and I hope you like the high school, I told some of my friends about you and I wondered if you might want to meet them?"

That didn't sound too bad, "Sure, of course." I said now heading up to my room to get things set up, "I can't wait." Actually I could, but the idea also sounded fun. To keep the conversation going I added a question to an obvious answer, "So, is there anyone at school that you like, Ino?"

She giggled, I could tell she was ready to gush out her feelings about a boy, "Like I told you yesterday, Sasuke Uchiha is a total _hunk_!" She sighed on that last word, "I will adore him to the end of my days! You know, Sasuke was the first to–" Ino just kept going on and on about Sasuke like he was the greatest thing since indoor plumbing. As she spilled out all of her feelings about him and all of the things he had accomplished during his life, I could just say 'oh' and 'ah.' Did she remember that he was only a sophmore too? Anyway, during our one-sided talk about Sasuke I was able to finish what I had on my 'to do' list. I decided to wear a black spaghetti top with a green undershirt and a pair of black shorts, with my favorite pair of black and white converse. I chose a small black fabric necklace to accent my outfit.

"So what about you, Sakura? Do you have a man back from where you moved away?" Ino asked me, "If not, I can introduce you to someone cute if you're interested." I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Oh! Um. Actually, no." I blushed, "And again, no. I plan on just going through school without something as distracting as a boy." I remembered the exchanges of opinions Tsunade and I had about boys and school. I really wasn't interested in looking. It sounded like Ino would be persistent though, and I guess at least a crush wouldn't be that bad. We would just have to see, so I added, "Then again, I'll never know. I might change my mind if he's worth it." I smiled. I hoped karma wouldn't bite me in the butt.

"That's good, high school life isn't fun without a little bit of boy action if you know what I mean." She said very sure about it, "Anyway, I'll let you back to what you were doing. Just one more thing! During first period I asked my teacher Anko about you after class because she mentioned that you and I have the same first period in her class so if you want we can meet in the front of the school and go together."

_Thank you, Ino._ "That would be perfect! Thanks!" I really did feel grateful, now being the new student wouldn't be that awkward with a friend in at least one of my classes.

"Not a problem! See you then, Sakura!" She said, we both gave our goodbyes and hung up. Things were looking bright. I lied back on my bed and closed my eyes. My hair covered my face and I sniffed it, the smell wasn't bad, in fact there wasn't a scent. I did feel like taking a bath though, usually I smelled like cherries. Not because of my name, but I just loved the smell. I hummed a song I made up in my head, taking a new pair of pajamas, and a towel. There was nothing more heavenly than a bath, I thought to myself turning on the water. I lightly squeezed the cherry scented bath syrup, the water smelled sweet and inviting. After lying my clothes and things on the counter I dipped my finger into the tub, the temperature was just right, I shivered it felt so nice. I undressed, the bathroom mirror took my body in, and I examined myself for a moment. My hour glass shape was noticeable, allowing the curves around my breasts to appear in my contours. I was quite happy with my naked self. My hands traced my bare body, goosebumps came up and my nipples started to stiffen up, I hugged myself and stepped into the bathwater. _Wonderful._

My long pink hair floated around my body, in a way I sort of felt like a mermaid. I used my index finger to twist strands around. These past couple of days have certainly been nothing less than unexpected and wild. A new home, new people, mom and dad's divorce. The thought of my parents separating drifted in my head, I took a deep breath, there was a lump building in my chest. I sunk into the water. I wish they would just come back, I wish things could just go back to normal. Even with Tsunade and Ino at my side, I never felt so alone. Thinking of Ino and Tsunade gave me comfort though, the void and lump were disappearing and I could take inhale and exhale normally. Sitting up to wash myself, the warm water slid down my body, the shampoo and conditioner cooled my mind. Real relaxation was commencing. Thoughts about school came to my head. Was Sasuke actually as great as I heard about? Would I make friends? Probably, and would Gaara accept the apology I had for him? I could recall thinking about giving Gaara a chance if he would let me get to know him, to understand him. Perhaps, all he just needs is a friend, and maybe he wouldn't be so mean. Even if he didn't want to be friends, I still need to get him to forgive me.

When I felt like I was all squeaky clean, I unplugged the bath drain and gradually the water disappeared. I stretched out to grab my towel to dry off. I wrapped my hair up in a hand towel and threw on my clothes. I had not realized how much time I spent cleaning and enjoying myself in the tub, it was already getting dark outside. Tsunade would be coming home any minute. Ino and I did talk for a long time that probably soaked up most of the day. We girls and our incessant talking. My side backpack and small bags of school supplies lied beside my bed; I organized them all into the backpack. All set. Now the only thing I had to do was wake up and brush my teeth. I clapped my hands together, "Awesome!"

The sound of a car engine drew closer to our house and sure enough it was Tsunade, I ran to my window to see her, there was another person in the passenger's seat, it didn't look like Shizune, it actually looked like a guy. I scratched the back of my head and shrugged it off. Before I came down to the living room I eased myself into a jacket and shook my head to help my hair dry. Turning the corner of the hallway I saw the new couch, it was so inviting, mom and dad always left old furniture behind and bought new furnishings for the homes we moved into. I sat down crossing my legs and turned on the TV. The garage door to the inside of the house opened and I heard Tsunade and whoever she was with talking. She called out to me to find where I was.

"Living room!" I called back to the old woman. She and a blonde boy came in and I fixed myself on the couch. It was the blonde boy from the mall!

"Sakura, I'd like you to meet Naruto Uzumaki." She patted him on the back, and he looked excited.

I got up to greet him, "Hi there, Naruto." I smiled and held out my hand. A blush appeared on his cheeks and I giggled.

"It's nice to meetcha, Sakura!" Naruto said rather loudly. I smiled and nodded meaning 'you too.' Tsunade left to the kitchen, probably to go grab some drinks. "So uh.. How's the idea of coming to our school?" He laughed and handed me his student ID. His hair was a little shorter then, but he looked cute, his face had a huge smile.

"Kinda nervous, I guess." I shrugged, "I don't really know anyone except for Ino, she's pretty cool." I said. Naruto looked at me with eager eyes. He's so forward. I kind of felt uncomfortable.

"Well, now you have me!" He smiled big, "I'll be your buddy look out, hehe!" He made a peace sign.

That's nice of him, "Thanks! I'm looking forward to it." I said. Tsunade came back with drinks for each of us and we all talked about the high school and the teachers. Naruto talked about the kind of sports he was into, he loved soccer and football. He was on the school's soccer team. The subject of food came up and he raved on about ramen and all the different kinds there were. Naruto was actually a fun guy to hang around with, I could see myself spending time with him and Ino together. Two hours passed and Tsunade said it was time for him to head home since it was a school night.

"Goodnight, Sakura!" Naruto said squeezing the life out of me in a hug. He took his orange jacket and walked towards the car. I had a little trouble breathing for a moment afterward.

I called out to him, "Goodnight, Naruto!" I waved, "See you at school!"

"You betcha!" He called out the window as Tsunade started reversing the direction. I was glad Tsunade brought Naruto over so we could meet. We were going to be good friends, I thought smiling. After gathering our cups, I turned off the television and then placed them in the sink and washed my hands. I opened my mouth and yawned, I was ready to go get some sleep. I climbed up the stairs into my room and moved everything aside and covered myself in my cloudlike blankets. I sighed happily. My body felt warm and before I knew it I was asleep.

_I didn't have any dreams tonight.. A muffled beeping sound picked and pulled at my attention. The darkness was turning into light._

"Mmmm..!" I groaned and through a pillow at my alarm clock. Tsunade busted through my door. How early did she have to wake up?

"Goodmorning, Sakura!" Tsunade yelled happily, "Come on, honey! Time to get ready for school sugar lips!" She yanked my blankets from me and I shivered. I should murder this woman.

"What time is it..?" I asked groggily, sunlight was peaking through my window. Tsunade turned on my lights until the sun filled my room. I sat up and rubbed my eyes with both hands.

"It's six forty-five, I have breakfast downstairs ready for you. Don't worry, it's still hot." She smiled, ruffling my hair, "Get dressed and come down. I asked Naruto last night before I dropped him off to come pick you up and drive you to school with him, he seemed happy about it and agreed. He's already here and eating too."

"Oh, okay." I said getting up. Tsunade walked out of my room and closed the door. I stripped off my pajamas and grabbed the clothes I prepared yesterday, _black looks good with pink hair_, I mused smiling, _this green is perfect too!_ I picked up a pair of socks from my dresser and sat on my bed to put them on, next I went to my bathroom and took a washrag to wipe my face. Gosh, it felt so good. I took a brush and ran it through my hair once. I had to admit, I was looking mighty cute today. I flashed myself a smile to my reflected self. On the way out I threw my bag over my shoulder and joyfully walked to the kitchen.

There was Naruto definitely enjoying Tsunade's waffles, he looked at me and waved, "Goodmorning, Thakura!" He said with a mouthful.

I laughed, "Morning!" I sat down to join him and took a bite. It was a while since the last time I had a plate of Tsunade's waffles. I felt like I died and went to Belgian waffle heaven. I finished my food and a long time before me Naruto had finished his plate. "Um, well I'm pretty much ready to go if you are." I said taking his plate and mine to the sink.

"Yeah! All right, let's head out!" He exclaimed. He threw both of our bags over his shoulders and opened the door for me. We both called out to Tsunade to say goodbye and she came to see us off.

Naruto started his car and the engine boomed to life, "So, are you excited for your first day?" He asked me, I think he could tell I stopped breathing. I looked at him with a frown, and his face went into sympathetic mode, "Oh, it's okay Sakura! It'll be fun. And if anyone bothers you, I'll beat them up." Naruto winked at me. "People will be nice to you." He tried to assure me.

Naruto trying to comfort me did help ease the nerves. Mom and dad didn't even bother to call and be supportive. "You're right." I smiled at him, "Surely everything will be just fine." Hopping out of worry, I though of what could be one of my first top goals today; find Gaara. But where? "Naruto?"

"Hm?" He lifted his eyebrows. Turning the wheel at the corner, "By the way we're almost there." He said mechanically.

"Mmkay. Um, I was thinking," I paused for a second, "Would you happen to know where I can find Gaara Sabaku?" I looked away from him and out the window. My hands played with the hem of my top shirt.

At first it looked like he didn't know what to say. His eyes had an unreadable stare as he kept them on the road, "Gaara is bad news, Sakura." His voice sounded grave, "If there's anyone at school to keep a safe distance from, it's him." Naruto pulled up into the high school parking lot and found a space. There were a _tons _of students here, not only that, but the entire school was _enormous_! The size of the school and amount of students distracted me from all of Naruto's warnings. He could see I stopped listening to him and softened up, "Just don't cross his path if you can pass the opportunity to do it. Anyway, why would you want to know where to get a hold of him?" He looked at me curiously.

"I ran into him the other day," literally. I said, "I wanted to talk to him and explain something." I slipped my side backpack strap above my arm and onto my left shoulder and opened the door to get out, Naruto did the same.

"I see. Well, his third period class is with Gai. Another thing, teachers here don't mind just being called by their first names so you don't have to really worry about formalities. Gai is a gym teacher, I don't know, you might run into him but there's a guy named Lee here that looks like he could be Gai's twin. I'm not kidding and they're not even related! They both have eyebrows the size of watermelons!" It was so easy for Naruto to get somewhat off topic really quick, but I enjoyed his company, "Ah well, I guess when you try to look for Gaara, go to the gym third period." Naruto and I walked through the parking lot and almost reached the two extremely large front doors to the school. All the while everyone was staring at the two of us. Right up ahead was Ino waiting for me to arrive.

"Sakuraaaa!" She yelled at me, there were two other girls with her, one looked pale and shy, she had short black hair and striking eyes. The other girl had brown hair held up in two buns, she had a polite smile on and a cute pink shirt. Naruto laughed at Ino and she put up a fist near his face, as quickly as she had done that Ino looked back at me and smiled, "Morning Sakura! Heehee, this is Hinata!" She pulled the shy one first, and second the girl with buns, "And this is Tenten! After we settle our intros we can get your schedule and we can head to first period." Ino said looking at me.

"Alrighty," I said, "Hi, guys." I added looking at the other girls, I was a little nervous, I looked at Naruto for a quick second and he nodded _it's okay._

"Hey, Sakura." Tenten smiled and took my hand, "You'll like it here, we'll take care of you." She winked, "We know this school inside out." Adding a peace sign, and we giggled.

"Hello, Sakura. It's very nice to meet you. I hope you will like it here in Konoha." Hinata said, she couldn't even look me in the eye, but she smiled, then looked at Naruto, "H-hello. N-n-naruto.." A blush graced her cheeks.

"Hey there, Hinata," Naruto replied with a big smile on his face and he ruffled her hair, she looked like she was in a daze but he didn't notice, "How're you doin'?" He asked. She nodded that she was okay. "Welp, Sakura, ladies. I'm going off to gym now, take care of Sakura will yuh?" He turned away and started running, it looks like one of the boys he was with from the mall was rummaging through his backpack.

Tenten put her arm around Hinata's shoulder, "I should probably help Hinata get into first. See you guys there?" We nodded and she looked at me again, "It was nice meeting you, Sakura."

"You too, Tenten." I said, "Goodluck with that, Hinata." I patted her back, and they walked away.

"Let's get that schedule of yours shall we?" Ino linked her arm around mine and she walked me into what looked like an office. Right ahead of me was Shizune, she waved at Ino and I, and we waved back. She was standing behind a long desk, "Hi there, Sakura. I have your schedule all up and ready for you." She held out papers for me, "Tell Tsunade to signs these and the last paper on the bottom is your list of classes in order. I'm sure you know that Ino is in your first, she'll show you where to go." I took the stack of papers and left with Ino.

She and I reached the classroom and Ino was about to open the door, "Sakura, Gaara is in here too with us, I don't know if he'll decide to kill us or not, but," Ino paused looking unsure, "No one has laid a finger on him in ages, let alone bump into him like what happened at the mall, I'm not sure what'll happen.. but Anko is a good teacher she won't let him hurt us." She said in a nervous laugh, "Let's get inside." This was the perfect opportunity for me, that was all I could think about.

Anko walked over to Ino and I and held out her hand, I hate handshaking. Something told me I'd be doing it all day. "You must be miss Haruno." Anko had a voice that was confident and firm, "Don't worry. I won't work you to death. Today." She laughed, and I did too but it sounded more anxious. "Let me see where to put you…" Anko looked at a clipboard she had brought over with her. I looked around the room, the boy with the dog was in my class, he was throwing test papers out the window while Anko wasn't looking. Tenten was fanning Hinata's face, and there was a boy with sunglasses on with spikey hair, he hid more than half of his body under a thick gray overcoat. It reminded me of a movie.

The door opened again and a pale boy with red hair walked in and sat in a desk in the very front right corner. Ino flinched when he walked passed her. Anko looked troubled and then yelled as loud as humanly possible, "Everybody. Get in your seats. Now!" Each student hurried to their desk as if she would have beat them down if they didn't do it fast enough. She looked over the room, and all the seats were full, Ino looked worried, sitting next to angsty man over there was my last option, but there were only three empty desks and they were all around Gaara. That must have been done by personal requests of the students who ended up having to sit next to the guy. I felt bad for him.. I didn't want Anko to get the impression that I felt the same way about Gaara as they did.

"Um.. Miss Anko," I said slowly, "I could sit next to Gaara. That's fine." The first person to look at me was Ino, and Anko looked a bit taken aback too. I smiled, but behind that, I was a little anxious about that decision too.

"All right, sure. Take the seat to next to Gaara on the left." Anko said jotting down my new assigned seat. Anko seemed like a pretty laid back teacher. She didn't ask us to do anything until I read the board in front.

**Take your Biology books and choose a chapter.**

**On what subject you choose will be the base of your project.**

**I would like a detailed, half life sized model of your subject, and an eight page front to back essay explaining your subject and all the works about it. –There is a lot more to learn about Biology chapters than you think.**

**Take notes, pay attention, NO WHINING. You may have one partner.**

**I expect nothing but the BEST out of your lazy asses.**

**Get to work. :]**

**(You all have until next spring in the first week of May)**

I walked toward my desk and set my backpack down. An awful feeling lashed around in my stomach, I could tell that Gaara wasn't facing me but his eyes were. I thought that if he could he would be shooting needles from his pupils in attempt to kill me. I folded my arms and closed my eyes as hard as I could. This might be harder than I thought. I took a peek from the corner of my right eye and he saw and glared at me, I quickly looked away and felt worse. _Yep. A lot harder._ At least he wasn't doing anything to hurt me or about what I was doing, he knew I was trying to scrape up enough courage to look at him. If he really didn't want me sitting beside him he would have done something to repel me. This gave me confidence. _I can do this. I'm going to –I'm_

I tore my eyes open and turned my whole body to face him. _Hah!_ He hadn't been looking. Oh well. He was just hunching over a notebook and scribbling madly in random patterns, but actually he was just drawing super fast. It looked like he was possessed. The thought of that made me shiver. No. That wasn't nice of me to think.

While he wasn't looking my eyes took him in. He had that same caramel side backpack, a dark gray and black long sleeved shirt, underneath a black short sleeved t-shirt, and faded black jeans. Wasn't _he_ colorful the one. Gaara had laid his, of course, black hoodie on the top of his backpack. I didn't really get to actually see it before, but his red hair was short, but long enough to reach the outer circle of his eye sockets, it was kind of shaggy too, and looked so soft, I almost wished I could touch it. His hair accented his skin so nicely..

He faced and startled me, his eyes were like daggers, the dark circles around them were a deeper shade since the last time I saw him did this guy sleep at all? "_What_?" Gaara demanded, closing his book as he spit that word at me.

I felt stuck, but then I was able to ease up a little somehow, this was my chance! "I-I'm sorry, I just –wanted to say that I –was sorry for.. the other day. I should have been watching where I was going." It was hard for me to get my words out when he looked at me that way. His eyes were piercing mine and I couldn't not look back at him.

"Forget it." He replied coldly. Then Gaara looked away as if I wasn't there. He was angry at me, and for a start out of whatever we have, probably nothing. Hating each other wasn't going to help.

"But –I" I tried to make him believe it. His tone was too grudging. He stopped me before I could even get to the next word.

Unleashing his stabbing eyes on me again, "Listen you slow, unintelligent bitch." Just like at the mall again his words were dripping with poison, "Don't mention it. _Ever_."

I couldn't breathe, I nodded slowly and as he looked away ignoring me again, I bit my lip to fight back a lump forming in my chest. Why.. was he so mean? I sat in my seat feeling incredibly uncomfortable. There wasn't anything I could do, his words were stinging everywhere in my body, tears escaped my eyes. No one has ever been so mean to me, or called me a slow.. unintelligent bitch. I had bigger problems than this awful sociopath, there was no way any more that I would try to be his friend. What a week. He caught me at a bad time, I was emotional.

The second period class bell rang. I was happy to almost be rid of Gaara in my sight. I saw Ino waiting outside for me, she had the 'Who-What-When-Where' look on her face. She had questions. Gaara stuffed his creepy notebook into his bag and reached for his jacket to put on. I headed to walk out and he was a little ways behind me and then Anko stopped us both.

"You two! Wait up." She ordered, I sighed and turned around. Gaara quietly grunted, I think I was the only one to hear him. "I have an idea for you two. Now that our class is even, I thought it'd be great for you two to be partners for the year project!" She smiled really big, Anko probably knew it would piss Gaara off; she seemed to like upsetting the students indirectly by using academic ploys.

I looked over at Gaara but he didn't look back, he was staring right at Anko and said, "No. That is out of the question." His eyes were angry, did he really hate me that much? Come on.

This guy was impossible. Anko looked at him, "Gaara, you're dismissed." Without saying a word he turned around and out the door he went.

I sighed really hard. Was this really happening to me? She then looked at me, "I'm sorry Sakura, Gaara isn't that much of a meanie. Usually he just keeps to himself, he doesn't get along with other people, but I think it would be easier for him to unwind his ass if someone would try to work with him." I had to agree with her, he just needed a friend. Would that have to be me? I folded my arms and Anko realized I was going to be late all of a sudden, she ran to her desk and wrote a note for me. She didn't have a class during second period.

I walked out of the classroom and switch had been over for about probably ten minutes. I saw Gaara, he was far away but I saw him at his locker. He looked a bit distressed, his right arm was held out holding himself up and his other hand was holding his face, Gaara leaned up and closed the locker and slowly walked away. I don't usually ditch class because I'm curious about something, but since it was my first day.. I chose to follow him. I hid behind pillars, corners, and anything else big enough to hide a person. He walked into a parking lot near what looked like an old gym the school had no use for. Gaara went around the building and sat on a few of the steps. When I was close enough to see him –I was probably about ten feet away. I saw him reach into his pocket and take out a cigarette, he put the nasty thing in his lips and took out a lighter. My breath hitched and he let out a low 'Heh.'

"I know you're here." He said. Great. Just great. "Want to stop being a pedophilic stalker?" He didn't have to insult me like that, he would be so lucky. I came out from behind the corner and sat next to him. He brought the light to his lips again and I gasped, involuntarily I knocked the lighter out of his hands.

"What's you're problem!" He said angrily looking around for his lighter. That's a dumb question. What's _his_ problem? He had all the money in the world and he resorts to cigarettes? Geez. Who was this guy?

"That's.." Actually I didn't know why I stopped him. Gaara deserved to choke to death on his nasty lung cancers in a box. I looked for an answer to give him, "That's unhealthy. And I won't have a smelly partner!" That was too late, even in the classroom he smelled faintly of cigarette smoke.

"Trust me, doll. We're not partners." He said and threw the cig into a huge pile of cigarette butts. Which were all probably his. He continued to rant on like a cold bastard, "I don't work with mentally disabled pink haired boys." Not even taking the time to look at me while he said this.

I had enough. He just kept pushing it and pushing it! "Look! I don't know who you think you are, but you definitely do _not_ have any right to treat me the way you do!" I wasn't finished, "No wonder everybody hates you! You're just a mean.. mean.. Monster! You're a monster! A nasty monster who wears black clothes and smokes up a storm! You're just _waiting_ for death aren't you?! If I were a fortune teller I would say your destiny was filled with CANCER. You'll die alone!" I needed breath, I didn't have time to think before he retorted like the monster he was.

"That doesn't change the fact that you're a blind bitch." He said as if I hadn't said anything. The _fucking nerve_! And I had already told him I was sorry for bumping into him the other day!

I tried to calm myself down, and I thought about what Anko said and what I was thinking about earlier. This guy needed a friend, not an enemy. I swallowed my pride and let him off with that comment. "Look, we don't have to be mean to each other. I'm sure this will go by quickly if we just finish the project, as soon as possible. And then we never have to communicate ever again." I said in a kinder tone. We had to do this together, it wasn't a one-sided thing, if I could I would just do it for the both of us but Anko mentioned she knew everyone's work and would be able to tell if it was only a one person job done.

"Go ahead. I don't really care." Did he _want _to go through junior year again? I get awesome grades! _No way_ this guy was going to ruin it for me, but I didn't want to argue with him again.

"Gaara, please, this means so much to me.. Can we just work something out?" He had no expression on his face but his eyes glared by default. Did he always look like he was angry?

"I'm not interested. Can you get that through your deaf ears?" He felt through a pocket and found another lighter and cig, how much did he need to smoke? I just ignored his comment. This time I let him light the damn thing, death was his fate and it wasn't right for me to mess around with that kind of stuff. He turned to me.

"Maybe you should smoke too." He shoved his hand passed my guarded arms and placed the lit cigarette in my mouth, my breath hitched allowing a small amount of smoke to reach my poor lungs. I spit out the disgusting thing and coughed like I was about to die. My eyes got really watery. He crushed the gross little thing with his black boot. "You freak out too much." Good for me I was already teary eyed because I wanted to cry. Not only was Gaara out of his mind, he was sadistic. He could kill me. Was it so wrong for me to want us to do well? Here I was, divorced parents, physically, mentally, and verbally abused by someone I had to spend time with for another long 9 months, my body was hurting to no end because he had the audacity to force that into my mouth! I was exhausted and it hadn't even been 4 hours into the day! I couldn't continue with him. I picked up my bag and left him there and headed to my third period class. This just wasn't worth it.

Someone kill me. Kill me _now_. Gaara and I shared third period together! Just-my-freaking-luck. Gai had his arm around my shoulder and looked around for a partner for me to play volleyball with, Gaara was the only one to not have a partner. Of course he didn't have a partner. Gai smiled and said, "Youth is precious! Spend it wisely and make lots of new friends! Just don't mess up your hair." He looked down and smiled at me, and what looked like a flash of light popped out of his teeth. Whoa. "Mr. Sabaku! Miss Haruno will be your new gym partner for the rest of the year." Why me. I wanted to hit myself in the face.

Gai tossed me a volleyball and motioned for me to start playing with Gaara. "Hello, partner." He said with a sinister voice. He was standing on the other side of the net. I bumped the ball over to him, and he spiked it back. _Wanna play hard huh_? Two can play this game. Back and forth the ball flew to and from the both of us like cannons. My hand began to hurt but he wasn't letting up, even after his hands changed color. I wasn't going to back down either. Our hits sounded like gunshots and the whole class gathered around, on my side. They were probably afraid he would hit them. Gai looked rather impressed though. I wondered what he was thinking. Gaara. Did he really hate me? Or was it just a mask? Would he ever just agree and work with me on the Biology project? My mind started to wander and it scribbled. I hated all of my questions. I was so distracted I couldn't move quick enough. Gaara returned an even more powerful spike probably looking to end the game but he hit me right in the chest. The breath was knocked right out of me and I fell to the floor. His glare twitched when I looked at him gasping for air that wouldn't come to me, before everyone crowded around I thought I saw the smallest pinch of concern in his eyes. As quickly as it came, it disappeared. I didn't know what the damage was, but I felt faint. Now between many pairs of legs I saw Gaara, his face was still the same but he had taken a slow step in my direction and lifted his hand shortly and then stopped.

I never had the wind knocked out of me before. I was in such shock my vision began to blur. Gaara left the gym, and a strong student with black hair picked me up. He smelled like axe. My hearing was muffled but before passing out I heard Gais speaking, "Mr. Uchiha, quickly take Miss Haruno to the nurses office." And then, everything went dark.

**- - - - - -**

**This is most likely a WHOLE lot longer than my last chapter. I just couldn't find where to put a chapter ending that made sense. But I wonder What is in store for Gaara and Sakura! And now that Sasuke has made an entrance I'm going crazy! But I can promise you that chapter three is gonna rock your socks off! Lots of GaaSaku action!**

**Until we meet again! :] Byebye!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm so so sorry this chapter took so long for me to post, My friend's sweet sixteen is today and I had to do a lot of last minute shopping, and such, having little time to get my story down. :[ and on top of that I didn't get ANY sleep at all last night, -not a wink! Don't mean to put down the mood by the way.. lol**

**ALSO! I just wanted to say thank you all so much for all of the awesome reviews! I get so nervous after posting up a chapter and I get so happy to see positive feedback ^///^ You all rock! I'm going to do my very best for you guys! And just as promised, more of GaaSaku action!**

**Well, here we go! :] Chapter 3!**

**One More Thing: [[[I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!]]]**

**- - - - - -**

An unnatural, but gentle gust of wind touched my face. I cleared my throat and blinked my eyes, and without a doubt I knew where I was. Even in pain I arched my back to stretch, a long sheet of paper crackled under my body. I was lying in a makeshift bed in the girl's wing of the nurse's office. How did I end up in here? A sharp pain flickered in my chest and I remembered what happened to me, Gaara and I were playing volleyball. _He returned an even more powerful spike probably looking to end the game, but he hit me right in the chest_. That's right.. The shock must have caused me to pass out. I held myself, getting the wind knocked out of me was terrifying. I hoped I'd never go through that again. Breathing didn't feel so good either, he also stuck a lit cigarette in my mouth earlier before third period started, even though just a bit of smoke touched my lungs they still felt scratchy. Wondering if there were any marks I lifted my gym shirt up a little and looked under the collar, sure enough, there was a bruise perfectly in the middle of my chest and was not a normal skin color, it was black and blue. My head dropped back onto the pillow. Gaara is going to be the death of me. Fate had decided after we crossed paths at the mall. Taking a deep breath I closed my eyes, after checking to see if I had my stuff with me, nope, my backpack was probably still in the girls locker room.

The sound of footsteps tapping on the floor in the hallway came closer to the entrance of the girl's wing, a nurse appeared and she came over to check on me, "Ah, you're awake." She said sweetly and smiled. She took out a pencil sitting behind her ear and signed a check in sheet pinned on the wall next to my bed, "How are you feeling?"

I tried to sit up a little so I could answer her, "I'm–" I coughed, "I'm fine." I said. I tried to clear my throat, and it stung for an instant, my words came out sounding like a whisper. The nurse poured some ice water into a cup and handed it to me. I silently thanked her and took small sips. I cleared my throat again, this time it didn't hurt so much. How long was I out for? "Excuse me?" I said and she looked at me, "What time is it?" I couldn't see a clock anywhere.

"Oh, it's," She looked at her watch, "twelve ten. Lunch time." She looked up at me smiling, "Also, we took the liberty of calling your guardian. You're free to go home for the rest of the day if you'd like. _Tsunade_?" She looked at me to see if she was correct, she must be new, everybody knew my grandmother. I nodded and she continued, "Our head nurse gave her a call and she gave us permission to give you the option to go home." The nurse held out her hand for me, "I understand that you are a new student, my name is Ms. Inuzuka." More handshaking. At least she was nice, I smiled back taking her hand. "Welp, I have to check up on some of the other girls, but when you're ready to head out you're free to go." Ms. Inuzuka finished. Awesome, no more school, and most of all, no more Gaara! At least.. Until the weekend was over. TGIF, I thought.

Why were places doctor or nurse related so cold? My body twitched from the chill as I left the room. It was kind of funny because I could so easily tell none of these other girls were sick, probably just trying to get out of class –it was only lunch time! I shrugged it off and made it out of the office. For a short time a lot of people looked over at me –well, at my hair and I blushed, it was long and it was pink, there was nothing I could do about it. Right next to me standing against the wall with his arms folded, was the black haired boy, the one who carried me to the office I think. I was about to thank him, but he spoke to me first.

"Look who's back from the dead." He said smirking, not to insult me I was sure, but probably to ease me up a bit, he still looked smug. I scratched the back of my head and smiled.

"Thanks for taking me to the nurse." I said, if I could see myself I probably looked funny just walking around in my gym clothes. He moved away from the wall, stuck his hands in his pockets and came closer to me, I felt a bit anxious, "I'm Sakura Haruno." I introduced myself. This time it was me holding my hand out, he didn't take it, so I took it back and gripped the hem of my gym shorts.

"Sasuke," He returned the name exchange, his voice was smooth and cool, "Sasuke Uchiha." Okay, so maybe Ino was right. Sasuke was the vision of perfection. I looked at his face, his eyes were profound and mysterious, he had black raven hair long enough to reach his jaw, it looked silky. How weird was it to think that about a guy? And then I recalled wishing I could have run my fingers through Gaara's hair in Anko's class. I shuttered for a second.

"And don't mention it." He added, I think he was talking about carrying me to the nurse. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a familiar set of clothes. They were mine. I saw a bra strap hang loose from between my two shirts and shorts, I reached out and took them quickly.

"Thanks, Sasuke." I said rolling my clothes up, I would find a girls bathroom and change there. So, he gets my clothes but not my backpack? "Um, you wouldn't happen to have my side backpack would you?" I already knew he wouldn't, I was hopeful enough for the benefit of the doubt that he in fact did have it.

"Gai asked one of the girls to run and grab it before I carried you to the nurse, but it was already gone. The only things left were your clothes." He answered. Who would take my backpack? What the heck?

I sighed, "All right, then. Thanks." My first day. Everything that could have gone wrong. Went wrong. It looked like he was thinking for a moment, I couldn't really tell for sure.

"Let me take you home today." He said. My eyes blinked twice, do I say yes? No? Ino likes Sasuke, it would have looked weird to others if they saw me get into his car with him and drive away.. Maybe he would think it was alright if I asked if he could also take Ino with us too. I was planning on inviting her over this weekend anyway.

Speak of the devil. "Hey! Sakura!" I looked behind Sasuke and saw Ino come running to get me, she stopped out of breath and gave me a hug, "Silly pinky, where were you?" She asked and Sasuke cleared his throat. Her eyes turned wide as she turned around, "Oh my god! Hi, Sasuke!" The blonde smiled at him too, sheesh Ino was pretty. Sasuke said hi back and turned back to me.

He was still waiting for an answer, "Um, sure." Ino made a confused face after I said that, I still wanted her to be included, "Could Ino come with us?" I asked him and then I looked at her, "Sasuke was kind enough to give me a ride home after school, and I was wondering anyway if you might want to come over today." I said filling her in. She looked super happy and nodded with a big smile, Sasuke didn't see it. It's a girl thing.

Sasuke's face didn't leave our direction, but I saw his eyes look left for a second in a small annoyed expression and back to us, I don't think Ino saw, it looked like she was busy admiring everything else about him, "Knock yourselves out." He said, "Here's my number. Call me after school." He didn't know I already had the okay to leave, but I decided I'd wait for them to finish the day. I nodded to him and showed Ino my clothes and she knew I was going to go change. I was surprised, instead of sticking around Sasuke she came with me.

She showed me to a girls restroom and waited for me to finish changing. She fixed her hair in the mirror and asked me while I was finishing dressing up, "So what happened to you? How come you were outside of the nurses office with Sasuke?" I was hoping to avoid the subject of Gaara for the rest of the day.. I'll make this quick.

I called back out to her, "In gym Gaara and I are partners, and we were spiking the ball to each other and I missed a hit. He hit me right in the chest and I fainted." I explained, "Also, I'm his biology partner for the chapter project." I sighed the rest of that sentence. I accomplished changing from my gray gym shirt and back into my green undershirt and over it the cute black spaghetti top, I flung the shirt I wasn't wearing over the stall door. I pulled down my gym shorts and Ino asked another question.

"Oh, so Sasuke carried you to the office then." She said thoughtfully, "That was so nice of him! Not only is he gorgeous, he has a good heart!" Ino is so in love with him. "How wonderful did his arms feel?" She pressed on. Quite honestly, I couldn't remember. I blacked out before Sasuke had me in his arms.

While I zipped and buttoned my shorts I said, "I dunno. I was out like a light before any physical contact could occur." I laughed and came out. She was leaning against the wall next to a dryer. I washed my hands and fixed up my hair too, I studied myself for a minute and realized something was missing, the fabric choker I had. Most likely I left it in my backpack.

"Aw, I'm sorry to hear it." She sighed. It's not like I minded, Sasuke was attractive, sure. He just wasn't my type. She perked up, looked at me and winked, "Lookin' good, babe." Ino pointed two fingers at me and giggled as we headed out the bathroom door.

"Right back atcha!" I said. We took the elevator up to the cafeteria, and got in line to buy something to eat. Ino took a tray for me and I stood behind her in line, I asked her while we took what we wanted to buy and placed it on our tray, "One weird thing though, I don't know where my backpack is. Sasuke said it was gone when a girl went to the locker room to get my clothes. Know anything about it?" Ino looked at me surprised after I mentioned my backpack.

"Wow," She said, "Um, no. Sorry I don't know what to tell you." I nodded. I could just look around for it on Monday; we didn't have any homework I could think of, I'd be able to survive the weekend without it. Two girls a couple of people away in line called to Ino and I. I told her it was fine and we turned our attention to the other girls.

"Ino! Sakura!" It was Tenten, she and Hinata were buying food too. Once we were all done paying we found a staircase to crash and chow down. "How's the first day of school going for you, Sakura?" The girl with her hair up asked, "Anything exciting happen?" Then took a bite of a club sandwich. I sighed, I _really_ didn't want to talk about what happened with Gaara. That was the only non-happy highlight.

"Um, nope. Not really." I lied, Ino saw I didn't want to talk about it and didn't say anything. I looked at her and mouthed, 'thank you.' She nodded and we continued to eat. I didn't want to make myself the awkward fourth wheel, so I tried to start a conversation, "So, I'm sure we're all aware that Ino likes Sasuke. What about you guys?" I bit a celery stick.

Ino and Tenten gave Hinata the chance to answer first, her cheeks turned rosey on her pale face, "I.." Hinata took a breath, "Um. I.." She was struggling to get it out, and started to play with her food to distract her, I put my hands up and was about to say she didn't have to answer but she came out with it, "Naruto is nice.." She was right, he was nice. It was so obvious too, the way she acted when he talked to her this morning. I smiled at her. I never really liked anyone enough, but crushes were a fun thing to have.

"Wanna tell Sakura about _your_ crush Tenten?" Ino lead her on.

"Well, I like this guy named, Neji." Tenten announced with confidence.

"More like '_love_ this guy named, Neji.'" Ino added and laughed. The girl with brown hair rolled her eyes, and threw a french fry at Ino.

"Anyway," Tenten continued, "Neji is sophisticated, good-looking and he's on the school's swim team." She sighed like she was in a dream, "Not to mention he has an IQ above a genius college professor." Hinata and Ino agreed with her. Wow, all of these guys sure did sound great. Neji and Sasuke must really be something, and Naruto too. "You're probably thinking, well, if he's that smart what is he still doing in high school? Neji graduated when he should have been in the seventh grade, he only comes here to be on the swim team." She said, and then laughed before she said her last comment about him, "I'd totally fuck him." We all had to laugh at that. Listening to my new friends talk about the boys they liked made me kind of wish that I had someone that I liked too, to gush on and on about. "You know, Sakura.." Tenten said thoughtfully, "We could find somebody for you if you want?"

Hinata and Ino looked at each other and made faces that told me they had something up their sleeves. Hinata faced me, "The list of decent guys to date in our grade are, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Lee. Upper grade classman like Kankuro, and Itachi are cute too." She said. Who are they? I thought.

Ino stepped in and threw at me all the basic information about the boys who were listed, "You know the guy from Anko's class with the dog? His name is Kiba. He's always smuggling that puppy into all of his classes, he does it so much the teachers just ignore it. His older sister who graduated four years ago moved back from the states and is now an assistant nurse at the office, you probably met her, names Ms. Inuzuka." I nodded, she was the nurse that helped me, Ino kept talking, "Kiba is really energetic, and he's also a loyal friend. Not afraid to speak his mind either." She rolled her eyes, probably remembering something he said to or about her. "Shino is kind of a weirdo but he's cool, he has a thing for bugs, and always wears that thick ugly gray overcoat. Shino has a nice face, I'm not sure why he hides it with his sunglasses and large stick up collar. Shikamaru is another story, he's probably the only guy as smart as Neji, he's a lazy ass but he's super hot, Shikamaru doesn't participate in anything unless he has to, but when he does decide to do something, he gets his shit _done_. Chouji loves to eat, he's always carrying around food with him wherever he goes, but like Kiba he's also a super cool friend, he knows all of the best restaurants in Konoha." She took a breath, and sipped some of her soda, and went back to explaining these guys. There obviously a lot to know. "Lee, he might not be the greatest looking of the bunch –actually" A long and ear shattering bell rang, the only one who jumped was me. My eyes were wide and I looked at the other girls.

"The.. lunch bell is the loudest one.." Hinata informed me. Now I get it.

"Ugh. Okay, I'll just tell you about them at your place later." Ino said defeated, she and Tenten threw away our trash.

I told Ino to meet Sasuke and I in the B section parking lot of the school. Apparently it wasn't hard to miss a car like Sasuke's because he had the newest flat black GT-R Nissan. Of which I didn't know until Ino said she would know where to find us. I wandered around the school, I would see a few other students here and there, but they didn't pay much attention to me. They were teacher assistants trying to do well for their mentors. Good for them. The school was like a maze, there were staircases, more corners than there needed to be, the walls and ceilings were high and wide, cream and white. It was actually pretty neat, Konoha high was an old school. I heard that a ton of great people came to and graduated from here. Even grandma Tsunade came to this school. In a way, that made me feel proud. Eventually somehow I managed to make it to the two extremely, unnecessarily large main entrance doors. Looking at the thick, wide handle bars I saw the scrapes and wear of past generations, I put both hands on the metal bar and pushed down. The door opened slowly, I didn't have a lot of upper body strength –a lot of people seemed to take advantage of that, especially in arm wrestling. It made me think about working out. The weather was breathtaking today, the air was crystal clear, the sky was cyan ice blue, what clouds that were around were all plump and poofy as if someone had taken them like pillows and fluffed them up a bit, the sun was bright and happy and somehow the grass was exceptionally green. I took in a deep breath and enjoyed the fresh, crisp air. Weather like this was just the thing to erase everything that happened this morning from my mind. I walked down from the first layer of the school yard, down the hill to the second, went right on the walk way and took the stairs down to the actual ground level. I didn't realize earlier the school rested on such a large hill. Looking at the enormous place from where I was standing put me in awe, it was gorgeous. This was my school. Oh I wish I could just hug it! I turned around heading toward the parking lot sections. Everyone at the school who owned a car, had pretty awesome rides. Although easily I could tell Naruto's and Sasuke's apart from the rest. They had money and used some of it on really, _really_ nice cars. There was Sasuke's flat black GT-R Nissan, it did look a tad simple from far far away, but as I got closer I was incredibly impressed. Then there was Naruto's yellow Camaro with two black stripes, it looked just like the car from the movie transformers, it was super cool but Naruto didn't have any originality. I laughed. He was such a cutie. It made me think, what kind of vehicle did Gaara drive? Could he even drive? Maybe they wouldn't let him, he might just try to run over every pedestrian in sight.

When I got to Sasuke's car I decided to wait for him and Ino at that spot. I climbed on the hood of the black car and sat on it, the hood was warm and felt nice, I eased back slowly and lied down. _What a day_. My eyes closed. I forgot about everything, my missing backpack, plans with Ino, and ride with Sasuke, and Gaara's every attempt to kill me on my first day. Consciousness escaped me and I was asleep.

_Just like the first night I spent in Konoha I had a dream about that cold, dark evening in my room. I was at my window starting the dream off this time and I was about to close my window._ _I tried pulling it down and suddenly two strong hands took my wrists, or they sure did look strong, the shock hitched my breath. There was a boy in front of me! The chilly breeze picked up making it difficult for me to see his face. His hair was short, but long enough to look shaggy, it was a deep red color, that and I could tell he was wearing black clothes. Everything else I couldn't make out. He started pulling me out of the opening in the window–_

"_What the?! What are you doing?!" I shrieked, we were falling and what sounded like a chuckle escaped his lips. "You're out of your mind!" I screamed. Just before we hit the ground, we fell through white clouds and into a blue sky. All the time he held my hand, I tried to get a better look at him through the powerful wind forcing itself against us. "Who are you?!" I yelled at the boy. He really was out of his mind, he didn't look at me. I was fed up with stupid boys, I pulled his arm and he came closer to me while we were in the air. I reached up, gently holding his cheek and turned his face to look at me. It was Gaara. As I had realized _him_ his entire body disappeared and I was alone, falling out of the sky. "What?" I looked at the ground below me, there actually wasn't any, I was above the ocean. I was about to fall straight into the water– _

"Sakura! Sakura?" I recognized Ino's voice scratching into my head. I turned onto my side and pushed myself up. I had fallen off of Sasuke's car while I was sleeping; to everyone else it looked like someone had robbed me and ran maybe. No I was wrong, Ino was the only one here, for about 100 meters _then_ there was everyone else. School must be over. There was one sweat drop on her cheek, she ran here didn't she. My hands wiped my eyes and she helped me to my feet. "What happened to you?" She asked setting her stuff down while we waited for Sasuke, she leaned on the car beside me.

"I fell asleep." I said, "Don't worry, no one attacked me out of nowhere." I let her know, I gave Ino's shoulder a small shake. I hope she didn't think that it was Gaara's fault, but now I think about it, if there was any person that would want to do such a thing, it was him.

"Good afternoon, ladies." Sasuke said walking towards us and beeped the car to unlock. He picked up Ino's belongings and opened the back trunk and set them in there, she had slightly protested but she obviously liked him doing that for her, she loved everything about the guy. "Hop in." He told us as he opened the door and took a seat. I gave Ino shotgun. Sasuke backed out of his parking space and drove toward the exit of the school campus. We passed everybody that I met and saw around today. Hinata and Tenten must carpool when they go to school, I watched them climb into Tenten's car. There was Naruto with Kiba, Chouji and Shikamaru. They all had their cars in a row right next to each other. New faces, and faces I'd seen already came to view as we came closer to the way out, I then saw the guy and girl who were with Gaara at the mall, when the three of them came to HotTopic. The blonde girl and the brown haired boy stuffed their backpacks and things into the trunk of their metallic Ferrari. Ino caught me looking at them.

"Those are Gaara's older brother and sister," She answered for me, "He's not with them because he ditches school a lot." That's great. Was I going to have to worry about his attendance record too? He _did_ have to be at school to work with me on some small parts of the project, and he had to know that it was imperative that we even worked together at either one of our houses or a library. Somewhere. If he thought otherwise, he was a mean doofus –too late. If I have to, I'll follow him home. I decided, whether he liked it or not. "The hot guy with brown hair, that's Kankuro. The blonde is Temari, she's beautiful, but wears her hair funny. It's cool." She said and smiled, her attention then turned back to Sasuke, she made dreamy eyes at him during the entire ride to my place. It was too bad he didn't know where I lived, because I half didn't. We stopped and turned around many times but eventually we made it to my house.

"Nice place." Sasuke said as he parked the car and went around to get Ino's backpack.

"Thanks," I said, "Yeah, it's pretty homey. I like it." Closing the door. I did have a nice house didn't I? I smiled to myself. "Thanks so much for the ride Sasuke, I really appreciate it." I was almost glad Gaara knocked me out in gym.

"Yeah, Sasuke thanks so much! You're so kind for doing that, you little giver." Ino added to my thank you. "Well, see you at school!" She gave him a tight hug. Aw. They would make a cute couple if they wanted to. If they both wanted to. Maybe I could get him to stick around a while longer for her.

"Wanna come in for a drink?" I asked, thankfully Tsunade kept a key under the welcome mat we had just in case I might forget them inside. _Or lose my stupid backpack_. I lifted the porcupine rug and picked up the key. I turned the lock, slowly I opened the door while looking at him, I made it look tempting. I did have a sense a humor you know.

It looked like he thought about that for a moment, "Sure, sounds good." He accepted my invitation, my blonde friend sure looked happy, the two came in together. I closed the door behind us, and walked more into the living room, they followed. Sasuke looked around casually while Ino gawked at him. I ran to the kitchen to get drinks. I opened a cupboard and took three glasses, setting them on the island counter, I heard them turn on the television. The refrigerator was full of drinks and food, Tsunade must have done some quick but thorough grocery shopping, Welch's grape juice sounded the best and I poured each of us a cup of it. I looked around in the lower cabinets and found a tray to place our drinks on to take over to them.

"Enjoy!" I said happily placing the tray in front of the two on the coffee table. I sat on the couch beside theirs and folded my legs Indian style. I forgot how much I loved these couches, I allowed my head to fall back and I closed my eyes to take a deep breath. Life is good on this couch.

Ino took a cup from the tray and handed it to Sasuke and took hers too, "Thanks for the drinks Sakura!" She said, I told her no problem and she started talking. "So, I took the role upon myself and had a nice little chat with who I thought would make the best match for you at school." I choked on a quick-stopped breath I inhaled after hearing that. Please tell me you're kidding, Ino. I told her I wasn't looking for anyone, but if the rare event that someone crossed my path that caught my attention I'd consider it. I should have known.

"Oh, yeah?" I asked nervously, "Who?" My body felt cold, I didn't have to feel _this_ nervous. I cleared my throat to calm myself. It's okay.

Sasuke looked sort of interested too, she finally answered me after taking another sip from her glass, "Our own, Shikamaru Nara." No, it wasn't okay. The thing is, all of the guys at lunch that she had talked about were all.. not my type, just like I thought about Sasuke, he was nice, and a little hot but I wouldn't try to ask him out or anything. Chouji sounded nice, but I want someone who has just a little more than food on his mind, unless he wants to be a chef, that would be pretty cool. Kiba would have been the best choice of the rest, at least overall he wasn't _lazy_ or carried an _insect fetish_. I haven't even _seen Lee_ yet. I didn't want to be rude.. I did recall Ino mentioning that Shikamaru would take part in something if he had to, or if he found it interesting. "You in? I made plans with Hinata and Tenten, they invited Naruto and Neji. I got Shikamaru to come and be your 'date.'" She made a quotation gesture with her fingers and winked at me, like that did anything, a date was a date. I sighed inside. She then turned to Sasuke, "And.. I was.. sort of wondering, Sasuke.. Would you come with me?" Hope rang in her words.

"I don't have anything better to do, when are we all hanging out?" He asked her shaking-with-love-and-happiness self, I took the grape juice from her right hand to set it back on the tray. 'I don't have anything better to do?' That was a really nice answer, he could have just said, 'Yeah, sure.' at the very least.

"This Sunday. We're gonna go to the mall and see a movie!" She told us, I guess I could get through a movie with Shikamaru. A movie meant we didn't have to talk much. I played around with my pink hair looking for any split ends. None, that made me smile, but then one appeared. _Aw_ man. I picked the strand of hair with my fingers and pulled the thing apart. All gone, mwahahahaha. Defeated. "So, yeah, Sakura.." They were both looking at me while I played with my hair. Oops. "Dress cute, kay?" She reminded me.

"Allrighty," I could do this, "It'll be great." I said. Sasuke made a face and looked at his watch.

"I have to head out now, call or text the details to me Ino. It wasn't half bad hanging out here, Sakura. Thanks for having me come in." He put one of the straps of his backpack over his shoulder.

"Thanks for the ride again. It's the least I could do, drive careful okay?" I said while holding the door open for him, he turned and nodded once at the both of us, the car unlocked and he got in. He backed out of the driveway and before Sasuke left his right window wound down and he coolly waved goodbye. My blonde friend sighed all lovesick, she has it bad for him. I think the sight of him caught her tongue because she just watched him walk away, poor girl couldn't even say bye.

Not much later she snapped out of it, "Sasuke is wonderful isn't he, Sakura?" Mhm, wonderfully quiet. He didn't talk that much did he, but maybe it was better that way, how else would he get all the ladies? Probably it was the whole mysterious self he was born with. I told her he was a nice guy and that I approved of them if they started dating, also that my room was upstairs, the first door to the right and said she could wait in there for me while I cleaned up down here. "Let me just help you clean, silly." She insisted. I only allowed her to turn off the TV. and take her things with her because she was the guest. She did those things while I took care of our glasses of juice. I still kept mine in hand, I didn't get to finish –or even start. We walked up the steps and Ino was right behind me, I opened the door and let her into my room first. She looked around with a smile on her face, "It's really nice," She confessed, "I loves it."

"Thanks!" I took her backpack and hung it on a coat rack I had. I flopped onto my bed and she joined me. A short ringtone buzzed in her left front pocket and she excused herself before replying the text. I turned on my back and stretched out my body, I lifted the shirts I was wearing and there was that giant bruise still. Sheesh it was ugly, how hard did Gaara hit the ball? I started thinking of everything he had done to me today and I huffed. That boy needs serious therapy. "Ino?"

"Yes?" She looked at me just finishing replying the text she received. She set her phone down next to her and then took it again to switch the volume to silent.

I stared up at the ceiling when I talked to her, "Why.." I didn't know how to start talking about Gaara. Half of me didn't, and wanted to talk about him right now, just so a few things could be cleared up. "I want to ask you about Gaara." I said quietly. Her eyes widened.

"Uh.. Okay." She looked a little uncomfortable, "What do you want to know?"

"Why is his head always stuck up his ass?" It was true, all this guy did was insult me, hurt me, and did what looked like an attempt to kill me. Most of all, it was just his attitude, _all the time_. He had absolutely no people skills. He's never even said my name before! Not once! "The only time he seems to wind down is when he smokes." Even when he smoked he was still mean! Well, no not really.. I stopped him every time he tried today, so I guess I don't really know if he was nicer when he smoked. I doubted it.

She thought about it for a moment it looked like, "Gaara is a creepy guy, Sakura. He.. he's kind of like a real life scary story. He's done a lot of bad things, not just in school like ditching and smoking –I didn't even know he did that on campus, but I shouldn't be so surprised. Gaara was arrested for possession one time, but his dad was able to cover that up with his money, the high school suspended him for a long time, he was a freshman when I heard about this, and I was in the eighth grade. _I_ only know this because his older sister used to 'babysit' me." Ino rolled her eyes, her parents must be protective. "And one time.. when his parents put him in therapy, Gaara had a counselor he really didn't like." This got my attention, I wanted to know everything about who I was dealing with, I wouldn't be put up to any more surprises, I would in all probability get more but I still wanted to know as much as I could from both sides if it came down to it. "She went to a small diner and he saw her walk in. He waited for her to go wash her hands after she ordered, he knew she was a germ freak." She twitched her hands, "She didn't know Gaara was at the diner too, she went to the bathroom and somehow he was able to lock the door from the outside –I don't know what he did, but without anyone noticing he had come in and left the diner without anyone really knowing he was there. Maybe he used a disguise, again, I don't know. But less than fifteen minutes later the building was on fire, everybody was able to evacuate.. but she was trapped inside." My friends voice quieted down. "At least that's what I heard!" She said perking up, "Everyone believes that story, but it was probably built up from something, and was twisted into a scary rumor, who knows. He hasn't done anything in a while.. at least other than ditch or openly defy a staff member at school, and cause a few fights –in which he won them all." What did I get myself into.

"Maybe it's a family thing he's dealing with –it's been like this for a long time after his mom died. Gaara was only five, he must have loved her very much, if her death is the reason why he's such a brute. I don't think his dad would beat him though, Temari and Kankuro look perfectly fine. Or maybe he's just a psycho." She shrugged. I didn't really think about his backround.. I guess I just really wanted to know where he stood between nature versus nurture. I decided to tell Ino about everything today, she said 'I'm sorry, Sakura..' and made a genuinely sad face a lot, and made promises to beat him up the next chance she got, but I said it was all right. During the entire course of our hang out session Ino and I changed positions a lot, I would sit on the floor and look up at her while she sat on the foot of the bed, or we would lie on our backs totally strewn across my bed and so forth, all the while piles of snacks and sodas accumulated gradually, it was already nine o'clock.

I wondered for a second, "Do you want to sleep over tonight?" I asked yawning.

"Sure, let me just call and ask my mom." She got up and walked over to my window and watched the tree on the left of the sill move extremely slowly front to back as the wind blew. Finally her mom picked up and she asked permission to sleep over. Little by little a low hum came closer to the front of my house, each time the noise got closer, it sounded more like the roar of a motorcycle. Ino pressed her face into the window and I walked over and stood beside her. Whoever was driving had a side bag and was a male. He probably saw us looking at him through my window because he looked up for a moment and then focused on parking his bike, it was too dark to make out anything else. The door bell rang. Who could that creepo be? And what could he possibly want? Especially at such a late time? Tsunade would have told me this morning if someone was coming over tonight. Ino and I looked at each other and then ran to the front door. We both peeked through the tiny glass hole and saw that he was still wearing his helmet, the automatic light didn't help one bit. What a pain. I'm not going to answer the door for a masked stranger. He reached up for the doorbell again making Ino and I jump. Then he removed the helmet.. The guy had his face down but red hair appeared, a really bad feeling swirled around in my stomach. It couldn't be.. It was. Gaara was on my doorstep. I looked around to see if there was anything else wrong with this picture, but all I could see was the upper half of his body, I pointed at the door and she looked, the face of OMG! ran right all over her.

"Are you going to answer the door?" She asked, her voice sounding really jumpy in a whisper. Gaara rang the bell again.

"No way!" I whispered back, "I'm not getting the door for him!" That was final. We waited another five minutes and the ringing stopped. "Should I open the door now?" Slowly, one by one, I turned each lock on the door and cracked it, I looked up and down and like we were sure, he was gone. I took a breath of relief. I eased the door a little more, there was my backpack! Suddenly the roar of a motorcycle thundered and sped away. So he hadn't been completely gone.. I picked up my bag and quickly shut the door. A sticky note fell from one of the straps.

It read:

Chapter 18, The Virus

Go to the Main

Library of Konoha

1 p.m.

"Well, what do you know." Ino said behind my shoulder, she read the sticky note too. "You gonna go tomorrow?" She asked sounding a little astonished. Of course I was going! The faster we got this project over and done with the better! I nodded yes, with a determined look in my eyes. "That's what I wanna see! Don't let this freakjob get you down!" She put a fist up in the air, making an extreme face.

"Yeah!" I followed her example. We walked into the kitchen to get more snacks, I prepared something for us to eat in my room and she rested her arms above the island counter. I took in her expression, "Hey it'll be fine, and since we're in a library if he decides to unleash his rage on me, all I have to do is scream once. You know how librarians are." I tried to comfort her.

Ino took a pear in her hand, tossing it back and forth with her other, "Just.. watch your back, okay?"

"Okay, babycakes." I held out my pinky to promise and we pinky swore. Ino was so silly, one moment she's the strong and confident one and then I'm the one comforting her. We were going to be such awesome friends, I could feel it.

The rest of the night was very fun, we switched on the TV. in my room and watched scary movies and both commented on how it reminded us of Gaara, then took a bath together –with bathing suits on, I had one to spare, and then rinsed off in the shower, and we talked about boys and what kind of music we liked, I told her I love alternative and pop, and she said she likes R&B and some pop, eventually we were too tired to keep a conversation going that we were struggling to stay on subject, and then both of us crashed. She and I slept rather peacefully.

Ino's phone started to buzzed and rang, "Nnh.. hhh…" She and I groaned. She picked up the phone and answered, it was her mom, "Hello?" She yawned, "I'm awake now." She said, "Um, yeah, sure.. Okay, bye. Love you too." Ino clicked her phone shut and it, poor little thing accidentally fell to the floor, she was too tired to reach for it. "Sakura..?" She slowly said my name through a pillow.

"Mhm…?" I moaned groggily. Turning my body to face upward. I rubbed my eyes trying to wake myself up. Gentle sunlight entered my room.

"I have to go now." She said yawning again, "My mom's waiting for me outside." She lifted one of my pajama shirts that I let her borrow for the night, and lifted a hand up to stop her.

"Don't make your mom wait." I said, almost fully awake, I still had that heavy feeling in my eye lids, "Just take them with you, and give them to me on Sunday –Tomorrow." Ino nodded and finished putting her things together, and then came over to give me a hug goodbye, "Sorry, Ino I would walk you down, but I'm exhausted." I told her.

"It's fine, Haruno." She assured me, "You had a long day yesterday, just let me know how it goes after you've met up with Gaara, kay?" Ino reminded me before closing the door.

"Okidoki." I promised before I passed out for another two hours. I didn't have any dreams. I sat in my bed, other than the small chirping of little birds outside, there was no sound. My ceiling looked like it was about to come down and crush me, until I shook my head. Slowly I turned my head to the clock on my nightstand, eleven o'clock. I don't want to ask Tsunade for a ride to the library, she came home late last night and needed rest; she might be asleep until four anyway. I made a face, "Oh my _gosh_, Gaara." I moaned in complaint. I now really just want to sleep in. I pressed my face into my pillow, and then I stopped, both hands came to the sides of the pillow and lifted me up instantly. No. Project. Today. Get dressed. I kicked off my blankets and headed straight for the bathroom. I brushed my teeth and brushed my hair like I always do. Usually I don't take the time to, but I took a good look at my brush, there was a little bit of pink strands of hair and I wondered what it was like to find brown, black, or blonde hair like other girls. "Hm." I stuck my finger under and pulled out the pink strands, tossing them into the trash. I washed my hands and turned off the bathroom light. Next, I had to visit my mirror, I was a cute mess again. I took off my shirt and said hello to the twins. For some reason they were beginning to feel full lately, and appeared round –they were just adorable! Oh sheesh. Listening to myself in the morning was silly. _But_ I was right, I smiled again –at least I was only changing clothes. I left it at that, no use in arguing with myself. I looked through my dresser and found a pair of socks and pulled them on, and then I went over to my closet to pick something to wear. Today, only two colors stood out to me. Black and white. I picked out a black, skin tight spaghetti top, to go under a white, formfitting short-sleeved dress shirt, a cute black leather collar with a bell the size of two cotton balls formed together, and two black hair pieces. My lower half would consist of my black leggings, my favorite black legwarmers, and a plaid black and white skirt. The combination looked great! I smiled feeling accomplished. I looked around for my side backpack to bring along with me, when I found it I opened a flap and there was another sticky note from Gaara, it was stuck onto a full pack of Marlboro cigarettes. I rolled my eyes. God.

It read:

You need them more

than I do.

_Ugh_! Did he actually think I was going to smoke these? For crying out loud! I stuffed the box of little nasties way down into my backpack. I'm going to throw these at him, I promised myself. I slipped the strap over my shoulder and opened my door quietly, and as silent as I could I made it down the stairs. I looked back up and listened if I had woken up Grandma Tsunade. I turned back and took another step–

"This sure doesn't look suspicious!" Tsunade said laughing. Her breath was thick with the scent of alcohol, "Where are you off to?" She asked pouring herself and I some water. I set down my backpack for a minute.

"I'm going to the main Konoha library today." I said, "Working on a biology project with a friend." More like a freaking dirt bag. I took a few sips of the water she handed to me, "I might be back soon, or later I'm not sure, but don't worry at least I'll be home." I assured her, setting the glass down. She was standing in front of me with her elbows on the island counter.

She nodded, "You're fine, I just want to be posted on where you are. I trust you, Sakura." Tsunade paused and refilled her water, "How are you going to get to the library?" She asked me.

"I thought I could just walk–" She stopped me right there.

"No granddaughter of mine is going to walk to such a far place. Let me give you a ride." She insisted, she saw me about to protest, "You're obviously ready to leave, it's no bother at all, let's go." She picked up her keys and headed to the garage with me and unlocked the car. Looking at the driveway made me think of last night when Gaara came and dropped off my stuff, I remembered him looking up at Ino and I in the window.. Would he ask me about that? Hopefully not. But what was he doing with my backpack anyway? That was just a random move for sure. I shook my head with all of these questions. I might die because of it.

I looked at my grandmother, she was too awesome, "Thanks, Tsunade." We were getting closer to the gates of the library, "I don't want to be a burden to you because of mom and dad.. I'm going to always do my best and not let you down. I just wanted to tell you that." My grandmother was quiet for a minute as she pulled around the drop off area and then she looked at me with serious, but kind eyes.

"Sakura. You never were, and never will be a burden to me. In the end, I didn't decide to take you under my wing because of them, it's because it was what's best for you. It's not easy to only live with one parent in the beginning of a divorce, especially when you're sixteen. Don't you ever worry about letting me down either because more and more everyday I become more proud of the young lady you're becoming. Now get your gorgeous butt in there and do that project or whatever you have to do, okay?" She made that quick but I knew she meant it, Tsunade smiled big, and I felt a warm feeling inside, and my eyes felt like they were about to cry, but I was able to hold it off and the feeling went away. I nodded and opened the door to walk out, "See you later and be safe." She said and drove back home. I didn't want to turn around and go to the library, _Gaara is there_.

I huffed, "Can't let this guy scare me! No way!" I put up my fists in pure determination, looking around other people had seen my episode of inner triumph. Now I wanted to go inside. The library almost looked as big as the school, if not bigger. I have never seen such giant book shelves and definitely not as many books all held in one place, it was amazing! The ceiling was so high, I felt like I was in a palace, not only because everything was so outsized, but it was all so beautiful. I took a right turn and passed six rows of thick pillars there was a spacious study, there were only a few people though, what a waste of good knowledge opportunity. I looked around to see if Gaara was in there, I quickly scanned my eyes around the area three times, the fourth time I really looked carefully. Finally there was a boy covered in all black clothes hunched over his desk, and he had red hair. I sighed, _Might as well get this over and done with._ I walked toward him –as the others in the same giant room with us watched me as I got closer to Gaara, _I _turned around and glared. Everybody kept their noses to themselves after that.

Now I was behind him, I listened to him breathe. Every breath was a bit harsh, it sounded like a tough labor, inhaling and exhaling. Gaara appeared all tense and relaxed at the same time –it looked hard. I inched a little bit closer and gently poked his shoulder twice. "Hey, Gaara." I said quietly and took a seat next to him, "Thank you for meeting with me. I hope you didn't wait long." His eyes were glued to a book he was reading, I saw a few bold words in the text, _virus_, _disease_, _symptoms_. "I knew you would see that education is important." I added in a whisper. He shivered at my comment, did I make him angry by talking to him too much?

He corrected me, "I could care less about education, our teachers are morons. They don't know anything about anything. I'm here because I had plans to come to the library anyway. I told you to come because you kept bugging the shit out of me wanting to work together so much." That comment made me want to laugh, he totally felt bad about hitting me yesterday and he knew it.

"Okay, Gaara." I said, we didn't have to fight. He was here and that was all that mattered, I don't know why I felt so afraid before, "Also, thank you for giving me my backpack." I smiled at him but he didn't look at me. Then I remembered something I needed to give back to him in the very bottom of my backpack, I held out the box of cigarettes, "Turns out I didn't need them." I said trying not to look like I was making fun of him. I placed the box next to his arm.

Gaara had an unreadable expression on his face, he took the box and opened it, taking one cigarette out and a lighter just so happened to be in his other hand, "Just what _I_ needed." He said, just like yesterday I knocked it out of his hand, this time he just laughed. _Eek_. It was so creepy, it sounded so sinister like he was about to release hundreds of satanic souls upon all who dwelled in the library. "Stop fooling around, get to work you stupid girl." He said and got up, he walked away and was gone for a couple of minutes, I blinked twice in surprise when he came back. There was an extremely large stack of books in his arms. I didn't notice before, just like a lot of things about him.. Gaara had some defined muscle, that was attractive.. Because he wasn't all muscle like a wrestler, or just skin and bone, he had a nice arms, he was probably really strong and looked like he was perfectly capable to protect.. I wondered what everything else looked like –whoa, whoa! What's going on here? I shook my head hard, I think I might have whipped him with my pink hair because he took it in his hand and said, "Quit it." His tone was threatening.

I blushed, "Sorry." I looked away. I heard a small flame spark and I quickly turned to face him, "Can't you just do that outside?" I asked getting annoyed, "We're in a freaking library for crying out loud."

"Nope. I can't wait to light one–" I took his lighter and box of cigarettes, including the one in his mouth –ew it was a little wet. He looked at me, still glaring as usual. I placed the things I had taken from him in my bag. I'm glad Tsunade was such an awesome doctor, she came to the library all the time to read old medicinal practices if they were necessary, she lent me her library card before we left the house. I gathered our things and picked up some books I thought were most necessary. "What are you doing?" He asked as I walked away.

"Follow me." I sighed. I made it to the check out desk and Gaara was close behind me. The librarian looked at the book subjects –which were all about disease and viruses, she looked at the redhead, and he glared back at her. It made me want to laugh, "This is all." I said and handed her the card, she confirmed our books and we left the beautiful library. As soon as we were a good distance from the building we sat down on some concrete steps and I gave him a cigarette and a lighter. I couldn't believe I was doing this, I hate it when people smoke. "Why do you.. you know, do that?" I pointed at the flaming cause of second hand smoking.

He exhaled and a huge cloud of smoke blew from his lips, and he spoke, "Takes my mind off things." What kind of things? He didn't have to be vague, I was probably the only person who ever talks to him, who would I tell that would care anyway? I was starting to get a headache. I think too much. I didn't press him on even so, instead I watched the cars as they passed by on the street. It felt nice not having to argue with him, "What about you. Why do you try so hard." He asked and inhaled the cigarette. As always and probably forever, he didn't look at me while he talked.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused, I looked at him. At least my eyes were the brave ones.

"You always try to reach higher than perfect in school." How did he know that? Other than the fact that I keep bugging him about working with me.

I needed a moment to think about it, he just kept on smoking. Then I answered, "I work so hard because.. I want much more than what every one else has in mind –at least my age. I also want to be able to help others, medically. I feel like that is my calling, I'll do anything and everything to reach my goal of becoming just like the unstoppable doctor my grandma Tsunade is, minus the drinking part." He nodded when I finished. "Anyway, this was pretty much a good-for-nothing get together wasn't it?" I said scratching the back of my head. He shook his twice, and threw away his finished cigarette butt. "If you want, would you want to come back to my place? We can work on our project there instead of here." I suggested, "Although, to finish it as soon as possible, we'll have to see each other every day until it's done.. But it looks like you have other things on your mind." I looked at him, "What is good for you?"

"I work from after school until five thirty, on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Mondays." He told me, and I nodded thinking of a plan, the next weekend and on we could officially start our project. Until then, I kind of wanted to get to know him –I'm finished with fearing him, or I want to be.

I came up with a plan, "Mmkay, so if it's cool with you, we can get started on our project next weekend, and work our schedules around so we can meet up and do what we have to, you don't have to bend work, so I think we'll be just fine."

"Whatever." He breathed, I looked at him for just a moment in astonishment at how much he really didn't care about anything. I tried to find his eyes, his _real_ eyes, I don't know how much longer the innocence that was left in him would survive until the rage he held in his heart would take over the Gaara he really was. The eyes he hid from the world.. were full of sorrow and loneliness.

A crazy idea came to mind, "Aside from school.." I almost thought of not saying anything. Nope. I'm passed the line of no return, "Do you.. I mean, since there's nothing else to do.. Um.. Do you –would you like to.. hang out?" I felt just like I did when I gave him my soul in apology yesterday, I wasn't _that_ nervous, but I did have a small fear of the guy after everything that happened. I thought his eyes almost twitched wider.

"No." He said. No? Why not? "I have other things I'd rather be doing if you're wondering." He said indifferently. Holy cow. Okay. I felt a bit humiliated, strike two. "Do you have a ride home or are you walking." It didn't really sound like a question.

Come to think of it, I didn't. I forgot to ask Tsunade to come back and pick me up –but I also didn't expect Gaara and I to part so soon. "I don't actually." I admitted.

"Oh." He said shortly and messed around with his lumpy caramel colored side backpack. "Wear this." He handed me his motorcycle helmet, the heck? This was almost as blasphemic as the whole cigarette gift box I found this morning. "You're in the direction of where I'm headed to so –what?" I was holding the helmet carefully and looking at him with different eyes, even I could feel it, he caught me.

"Nothing, it's just that," I gripped the head gear tighter, "This is your only protection against an accident." That kind of luck was mine, he was an ass but didn't deserve to die because of me.

"It's not like I care to die. Just put the damn thing on." He somewhat insisted, I followed him to the parking lot and finally saw in light what Gaara got to parade around in, a black two thousand and nine MV Augusta F4 CC, "Don't be fooled, I only travel around in this piece of trash during non-important days." I came closer to get a better look, this thing was amazing! Nothing trashy at all! It was probably true though, what he said after. He took a seat and waited for me to hop on too, I took a little bit longer than he did.. "What is it now?" He asked more annoyed.

"Never had a ride on a motorcycle before." Knowing my first time would be with a psycho didn't make me feel at all much better.

He closed his eyes, now losing his patience, "Do you trust me?" No, but I nodded and he held his hand out for me to take just in case I needed help getting balanced, I took advantage of his offer and successfully sat on the.. two wheeled.. majorly powerful bike, riding behind someone who potentially hated me. His right hand pulled back twice on the handle and on the third we sped off into the street. My eyes have never been closed tighter before this moment, I didn't even realize I had both arms around Gaara. Little by little my eyes opened and I tried to look at his face from behind, he was perfectly relaxed. He kicked up the speed even more and he was still fine. It made me feel pathetic. A strange feeling touched me, even if I was just hanging on for dear life.. It sort of felt nice to hold Gaara like this. His muscles, like I thought earlier were toned, but in a way he felt soft too.. "We're almost there." He said while we were at a stoplight.

I offered him his helmet, he was the one driving, I couldn't imagine the wind whipping at his face, "You should wear it, okay?" I already had the thing off and in his hands, he had no choice but to take it. He revved the engine again when the light changed to green and he sped off at an unimaginable speed again. I held onto him just a bit tighter, I wondered if he could tell.. If I just.. rested my head against him –_All right_, now I wasn't thinking straight, the wind was getting to me. We pulled around my driveway and he helped me get off, but he remained on the bike. The engine was still on too, he removed his helmet, was he waiting for me to say something? Oh, "Thanks a whole lot for taking me home Gaara."

He was dusting off his helmet, "I don't have to get used to this, right?" He asked.

I laughed, "I dunno. Maybe you might." I said smiling, I had an empty feeling in my stomach, I didn't want him to leave. He didn't seem as amused as I was about what I said, what a goob, he probably didn't know how to laugh, "Want to come in? Just for a minute?" I can't believe I just said that. Gaara locked his helmet on the side of his cycle and came around.

"Not really, but since you won't stop asking if I want to 'hang out' or 'come in' for a second I might as well, you've shut up about working as partners." I excused him after he said that. I took out my keys to the front door and looked up, there was a note from Tsunade.

It read:

Sakura,

Shizune and I have gone out gambling until

tomorrow night. There's food in the fridge

and everything you need is in the house.

Take care, and don't let anything catch fire.

~Tsunade.

"Pleasant woman." Gaara said.

I directed my left arm toward him and poked his chest, "Pleasant man." I repeated. The door unlocked and we were in. Going on ahead I turned on a few lights, "Anything to drink?" I asked, for some reason Gaara just stood there at the front door, I rolled my eyes and laughed, "You can come _in_ you know." I got him a Dr. Pepper and a Bon Bon for me, both my hands had drinks in them and I motioned for Gaara to come upstairs with me, he walked slowly behind but I knew he was following, as we reached the top I added, "Sorry, could you get that?" I pointed to the door to my room, I couldn't open it myself, without saying a word he opened it for me, "Thanks." I walked in a put my drink on the nightstand and handed him his. "You can take a seat anywhere by the way. Uh, make yourself at home." I insisted. He didn't say anything, just watched his drink when he swished it around. "Is something wrong?" I asked, he was sitting on the foot of my bed and I sat two or three feet away from him on the floor. There were his lonely eyes again, "Gaara–" I barely touched the skin on his free hand, and he yanked it away like a reflex. It startled me. Wow.. "I'm sorry." I said quietly.

"I have to go," He said, Um.. Okay. I prayed that the expression on my face didn't give myself away, I just wanted to learn a little more about him, that's all. All I knew about him was that he smoked, didn't like to have any kind of contact with other people, and was probably the most misunderstood person in all of Konoha. He was good, not bad –I thought. He stood on his feet and didn't face me, his eyes were kept on the floor, "This isn't good." He said under his breath. What wasn't good? Being around me was the best thing for him since who knows when? I mean, there was his family, but that only goes so far, and Gaara started to feel like a friend, at least to me.

I didn't mean it like I liked Gaara more than a friend, but I tried to convince him to stay, "You don't have to go." His stressed body was still tense, I chose my words carefully, and slowly I finished, "You can stay here.. With me."

- - - - - -

Again, I'm so sorry it took forever for me to post this Chapter! It's probably not as good as I promised because upon writing this chapter I was stressed over an outfit I had to buy and I had no sleep whatsoever [super tired right now! heehee] But I can definitely promise great things in Chapter 4 –things can only get better and better! ^_^ It's been a really crazy two days, but I'm still happy with this chapter because it foreshadows a new development in the feelings and Sakura and Gaara, don't forget she's still trying to figure him out! But for a small preview, I think things between the pair really heat up in Chapter six. –sshhh!–

Crazy questions! What will Gaara do after Sakura says such things? What's going to happen with our friends Shika-Neji-Tenten-Hina-Naru-Sasu-Ino-Saku when they go out for some fun activities? Any more questions that need answering? Stay tuned for Chapter 4 and we'll see!

Until we meet again! :] Byebye!


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! I'm soooooo sorry for this chapter to come out so late, I got sick and on top of that I was having some MAJOR annoying problems with my computer, because for some reason my internet kept going out and to make things worse, the keyboard wouldn't work!! So I had to fix that.. ON TOP OF THAT I was overlooking my final and during my very last bit of correcting my computer shut down! So I had to redo this all over! Anyway -sigh- so, in this chapter I think it's pretty juicy because there's a pretty touchy scene with Gaara and Sakura! Also, this is the last time I'm going to take this long to come out with a chapter, because I don't know about you but I **_**hate**_** waiting for next chapters to come out! So I have a set goal and I'm going to follow it. Thanks for your patience!**

**I just can't thank you all enough for such awesome reviews! Thank you, Thank you! You guys just don't stop being amazing huh?? :D**

**One More Thing: [[[I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!]]]**

**Or The Following Songs: **

**Clothes Off – Gym Class Heroes**

**Jump – Flo Rida**

**Or The Movie: **

**Five Centimeters Per Second**

**- - - - - -**

I didn't mean as in I liked Gaara more than a friend, but I tried to convince him to stay, "You don't have to go." His stressed body was still tense, I chose my words carefully, and slowly I finished, "You can stay here.. With me." I half couldn't believe what I was saying, just because we were having a better day –on only our second day of really knowing each other no less, who knew if he would just lash out again! Actually I knew he would. But also.. If he was ever going to be a better person, someone would have to give _him_ a chance first. So I tried again, "Don't go." His body piercing eyes glared at me and I fought to look back at him. "Come on, let's.. Work on our project, we can figure out how we want to complete it." I didn't wait for him to come sit down with me, I slid my bag over in font and took out a notebook, "You should take yours out too." I said without looking at his deciding figure, I knew he was going to leave really soon, but at least gradually someone had to teach him to listen to them. "Once we settle our halves of work, you can go." I promised him as I brought out two pencils, I placed one across from me that Gaara could use. _Come here boy, come on! _I thought in my head and cleared my throat so I wouldn't laugh. When I saw him he looked so troubled and suddenly he became expressionless –except for that constant glare.

Is he really just going to leave? We haven't even been at my house for fifteen freaking minutes yet. He didn't even drink his Dr Pepper, –I wasn't even worried about _that_. And he still wasn't sitting down with me, and I tried hard to ignore it. I opened my notebook to a random page and I pretended to write down important things, instead I jotted down a bunch of crap about Gaara. I wrote things like, 'Gaara is such a boob –he never listens! He probably attends funerals all the time because the only color he wears is black! Black isn't even a color!' and a bunch of corny little nonsense I could come up with. I didn't realize it a minute ago, but when I looked up –there he was, leaning his weight on his elbows above his crossed legs. Oh my gosh, he listened. Awesome! I didn't know how long this would last, and probably not long, but he was making some real progress here, he even took his backpack and had out his creepy notebook! I handed him the pencil because he didn't pick it up, reluctantly, Gaara accepted it. The angry figure facing me looked pretty funny, because my room wasn't an angry atmosphere –unless I was the one who was upset. I turned to another page and actually wrote something down that was worth while, and then the sound of another pencil on paper came in and I looked at Gaara again, he was scribbling down something too, I arched up a little to find out what it was.

"Can I help you." He asked. Hooo.. Chills ran through me, I had to shake my head –this voice he has is so malevolent! He was tapping his pencil on the perimeter of his notebook. Man I really wish I knew what was inside that thing.

Quickly I turned my attention back to his question, "Ah, not really." I said. Should I ask him if I could check it out? No.. The trauma might prove to be too great; I'll just have to contain my stupid curiosity. How lame. "So while you were over there doing nothing I thought of a good way we can divide our project." I said smiling. Gaara rolled his mean eyes. That's good! At least he's listening, "I can work on the essay portion, would you mind designing and building the model?" I asked. He considered that for a moment and slightly shook his head –or that's what it looked like he did. He was going through his backpack and pulled out a thick folder, and held it out for me to take. After opening, I skimmed the pages, it was the whole essay! I read random passages and some sentences from a few pages and to keep my check up quick I left them in the folder pocket –it was amazing! "Wow, Gaara.." I said as I read more. His work was impressive, I felt like I was actually reading a biology textbook. There was no way he could have done this all in one night, just yesterday he had told he could care less about doing anything like homework. Is he a liar as much as he is a flaming jerk? I had to ask him about this, "How did you –when did you? Were you actually working on this before we were partners? _Did you plagiarize this?_" If this work in my hands were all his doing, he was a genius. I studied him carefully; I think I was even giving him the suspicious lazy eye.

Gaara leaned backward on his hands, "Just because I don't do homework doesn't mean I'm not capable of doing a good job. This is all my doing." He told me and then snickered, "Plagiarize. I'm too good for that." That might be true, I've never seen an essay as good as this.. in most likely my whole life! He still didn't tell me if he had been working on this before we met, then it struck me, I thought about yesterday when I read the board in Anko's class, the project was assigned the day _prior_ to yesterday, I knew due to the fact that everyone already had partners and the chalkboard was particularly fresh. Also, either Ino, Hinata, or Tenten would have been partners with me. I wish those were the circumstances, because a lot of things would definitely be so much easier, I still couldn't really get over it. But it's actually not so bad; I ended up with a complete maniacal mastermind. It was funny.

I inhaled as much as I could, "But.. Really, how did you do it? Did you do this last night? I'm sorry; it's just.. Kind of hard to believe you, because with this level of informational mastery I find it to be nearly impossible that only a third year student in high school could come up with this. I just want some answers." After finishing I took in another breath. In reality, I needed a lot of answers from this guy.. How could one person, known for only a day and a half, trigger _so many_ damned questions? I might just very well need therapy after this! The red haired boy in front of me just glowered.

Gaara rolled his eyes and pointed to one of the freakishly dark circles around one of them, "Did it ever come to mind that I don't really sleep? What else am I going to do?" He asked irritated. Um.. Other than smoke your lungs out? With all of the rumors going around school I thought someone might have just punched him really hard outside of campus.. In.. Both eyes.. I imagined how stupid that just sounded. "I worked all night to finish it." Aw! "I knew after all the shit you put me through yesterday you wouldn't leave me alone until you got what you wanted." Wow, right on the dot. Gaara nodded his face once in the direction of the folder, and I looked, "My notes and outlines are behind the final draft." Damn.

This made me so happy, now I knew for sure he wasn't a cheater! One check off the list. "Well, Mr. Sabaku. I am very well impressed." I said in a fake proper voice. "Now this is over with, I just have to make a few adjustments." –I really wished I didn't have to, this was perfect just the way it was.

"Do what you want." He said, again his ignorance amazed me. A moment later my cell phone's ringtone blasted and began to vibrate on the nightstand next to my bed. I excused myself, –like Gaara would care anyway– and rose to my feet to see who was calling me, I looked at the top screen and the name read: Ino Y.

My thumb flipped open the top screen and I answered, "Hey Ino, what's up?" There was a pause on her end and she asked me to hold on. I looked at Gaara real quick and pointed to his Dr. Pepper, I had given him a lot of ice so it was probably a bit watery by now. I held the phone to my chest and told him he could dump it out in the sink of my bathroom and replace it with fresh soda if he wanted.

"Hi Sakura, sorry about that." Ino apologized, it sounded like a ton of people were around her, it was kind of loud wherever she was.

"It's alright." I told her and silently invited Gaara to come sit up here with me, but he chose to remain on the floor. "So what's up?" I asked again.

"Everybody decided to go to a small local festival and I was just wondering how you were. Was working with Gaara terrible or what? Did he torture you at all?" I turned the volume a little bit lower.

I turned away from him, "Oh, that's cool, having fun? And no, it wasn't awful.. I guess." Then I turned around to see what he was doing, I heard swift and hard pencil strokes, "Difficult but durable." I told her. He was scribbling again in that creepy notebook of his. "Actually, we're at my house right now." I said as if she was asking two different questions so he wouldn't feel offended and kill me.

My blonde friend's voice became shocked, "Yeah, actually it's not bad– _What_? _He's at your house_?" Her tone was unbelievable. "_What are you guys doing_?" If I didn't know any better, I could swear she was going to pass out.

"Well, not much. Just talking." I said. There wasn't even much of that going on either so far, he was going to leave. It was only, what, four or five o'clock? For some reason I heard Gaara close his notebook as he set it down, followed by the sounds of his hands searching through pockets, then there was a click and I knew exactly what he was doing. That firehead retard. "Ino, I have to go –bye." I hung up not waiting for her to reply. The phone dropped from my hand and onto the floor. I got up as fast as I could to stop him, that damn kid and his smoking! I reached the edge of my bed and the mattress bent down causing me to lose balance and I tipped over, falling right off my bed and on top of him!

The fall made the bell on my collar necklace to jingle especially loud. My eyes were wide with shock and we were both looking at each other straight in the eye for the first time. Gaara's glare was more angry than usual. Both of my hands were holding myself up, and were right next to his head on each side, my long pink hair hung about ten inches from his face. He didn't say anything, but brought his hands up, each still holding a cigarette and lighter. No way, not in my house. He wouldn't dare. Right in front of me, less than a foot away –he was going to light that thing! Why that little– he had the fucking nerve to do that after all the trouble I went through to get the freaking point across that he was only allowed to do that outside! Was Gaara like an animal or what? I forgot about holding myself up and I took his wrists and pinned him down. From my hands gripping his wrists to my elbows holding myself up, he involuntarily lost hold of his cancer-causing materials. "What the hell?" He said.

I repeated the words that came from his dumbass mouth, "What the hell?" Was he serious? "_What the hell_? You know exactly _what the hell_! You can insult me, that's fine. Push me around at school, okay. But smoke? In _my _house? Don't even think about it!" I was almost yelling at him. He didn't seem phased at all.

"Stop me." Gaara challenged still glaring at me. I didn't care. I glared back at the arrogant bastard.

"I loathe you." I said, I could feel the venom in my words, I lowered myself a little closer to him to emphasize what I was saying. The bell jingled again, and I could smell the faint scent of cigarette smoke on him.

"I loathe _you_." He said with the same amount of poison, he lifted himself up accentuating his words just the same. As much as I hated to admit it, he sounded more spiteful.

"I _detest_ you!" The feelings of hatred boiling inside caused me to forget how close to each other we already were, I closed whatever space there was between us, and my lips came down on his. The two of us were just so full of hateful feelings we took it out on each other with what was now a kiss. Gaara let his head back down and I followed him not wanting to be separated at all as he kissed me back. My hands pressed along his strong biceps, and as both of our arms came down I gently held his face in my hands as we furiously kissed one another. He took my waist, holding me tight against his body.

I needed air, as I pulled away I could feel his lips follow mine. We were both breathing heavily, it was obvious he needed some oxygen too. Just as we barely had enough to breathe Gaara brought himself back up again and continued to kiss me, I wrapped my arms around him, kissing him back. He was still bringing himself upward and me along with him, his hands found their way under my thighs and he held me up as he had risen to his feet. With my left arm still around his neck, I used my right to unbutton my white dress shirt. Gaara turned, still holding me up against him, he took me to my bed and let me down, this time he was the one on top. His hands slid down my right thigh, followed by his lips leaving a trail of needy kisses. He removed one legwarmer, and then removed the other. His touch made me blush deeply as his hands slowly found their way up my skirt and pulled down my leggings. Then what sounded like a snarl escaped his mouth as he came back up and kissed me roughly, our bodies were so close, nothing on earth felt as good as this.

Eventually it wasn't enough. I placed my hands on his chest, and I felt the gently defined muscle I knew was there, my fingers lightly slid and explored downward until they discovered the bottom edge of his shirt, I tugged it upward over his head and his body came down on mine again. Gaara deepened the kiss, with his bottom lip he traced the nape of my neck. His hot breath on my skin made it too difficult to stop the whimpering sounds that escaped my lips as he kissed my body this way. Then he placed little kisses on my collar bone all the way onto my shoulder, his hands felt around and learned every part of my body, taking in each curve I could give him. I silently begged him to kiss me and he understood my body language. He came back and I kissed him, wrapping my arms around his neck again, we shared one last passionate kiss. When we knew were finally finished I lightly placed one more kiss on his lips, then on the tip of his nose, and one last on his forehead. Gaara leaned his forehead to mine, we caught our breath and we looked at each other. His glare was gentle, no, I think it was just confused. He exhaled deeply and turned onto his back lying next to me. I turned my head and looked at him. His eyes were closed but he didn't look comfortable, his eyes were furrowed like there was something really unpleasant on his mind. I inched myself a little more closer to him.

The sting of realization caught up with me. What just happened? Not only that.. But when I looked at the red haired boy beside me I didn't feel hate, I couldn't. Oh. No. I closed my eyes, this isn't happening. It didn't happen. I tried telling myself that, _who_ knows how many times, but when I opened my eyes, there was Gaara. And now I had something to tell Ino. I couldn't think of any possible reason why, but.. Lying next to him didn't feel as bad as it I thought it would have before. In fact, in a way, it was comforting. My body felt warm and safe, the feeling made me sleepy. In the end of it, I dozed off, not in Gaara's arms, but subconsciously I snuggled myself up to him.

A sharp cracky sound became louder and louder as I slowly woke up from sleeping. "Hhnn.." I moaned as I got up, the stupid sound was coming from my window, it was really dark outside, and I didn't have my light on in my room. What happened? I thought, running my hand through my hair after I sat up in my bed. My eyes were adjusted to the dark since I had been sleeping, I turned and walked out of bed ignoring the irritating tapping noise. I flipped on the light and I turned, half of my clothes were on the floor! My leggings, legwarmers.. A flash came to me in my head, Gaara…. Left without saying anything!

I slapped myself in the face a couple of times, trying to forget about the other thing that happened, so I could cease the annoying sound coming from outside, but actually it stopped when the light turned on. I went over to my window, along the way I picked up my clothes from the floor and tossed them onto my bed. I placed my hands under the sill and pushed upward to look around better.

"Oh, she is an angel!" An unfamiliar boy dressed in a lot of green said dreamily. Everyone was outside; Ino, Hinata and Tenten were in a short distanced group, they were talking and Ino noticed me opening the window and she waved.

"Hey, Sakura!" She yelled to greet me, I saw the huge rocks she used to get my attention. So it was Ino.. Hinata and Tenten also waved hello, and I did the same. Quickly I tried to fix my bed hair, Ino turned around facing a running car, next to a parked one, "Hey! She's here!" Of course I was. Why wouldn't I be? The car engine stopped and more people came out of the car, I couldn't tell whose it was. But Naruto was outside! The boy wearing a lot of green was telling Naruto something about how he was right about me being gorgeous or something. I heard Naruto say, 'Um, duh!' I rolled my eyes smiling. Naruto. Even Sasuke was with them, he came out too and with that low key smirk and wave trying to look indifferent, I waved back saying hi to them both.

Four other boys came too, Chouji had a large bag of cotton candy in hand, it looked like he was really enjoying it; The boy named Kiba was there too, and his puppy popped out from the half foot unzipped portion of his hoodie, then there was Shikamaru complaining about the chill coming from outside, he mentioned what a drag it was to be going around late at night, following after Shikamaru was a slightly pale boy with eyes that strike just like Hinata's, he had long hair and a cream sweater on. This boy was probably Neji, the one the Tenten was talking about during lunch yesterday, he looked strangely mature for his age. "Hey! We're all going out for a good time! Wanna come with?" Ino asked, my attention was turned back to her again, "Party at Sabaku's!" Sabaku's..? Oh geez. Sabaku's meant the family of Sabaku's, the Sabaku family meant, Gaara Sabaku. Could I even face him? We needed to talk anyway.. I sighed really hard inside myself, _It was really nice of everyone to come over and get me.._

I made it through yesterday, what was one party going to do? Yeah, I could do this, "I'm in!" I said and before closing my window I added, "Be out in a sec!" Ino nodded and I heard some of them cheer, 'Woot!' I laughed and went to my closet; I took out a large loose fitting, candy red plaid shirt, and exchanged it with the black undershirt I was still wearing. Then I picked up a pair of black shorts and slid them up under my skirt, then gripped the hem of the skirt, pulling it down and off. I quickly ran to the bathroom to fix my hair, I brushed through it once, and then used mouthwash. I left my collar necklace on, it looked cute with my outfit, I winked at myself and turned off the light. Now trying to move a bit faster on the way out my door I picked up my black and white converse and scurried down the stairs. Hopping on one foot I slipped on one shoe and then the other. Done! I opened the front door and left the house. Not without locking the door of course.

Both of the car lights were so bright my pupils twitched, whoa. I held my right arm to shade my eyes, did they ask me to come out just to blind me? The car on the left honked and I walked over to it, Ino's purple Punch Buggy was so adorable, the blonde lowered the window opposite from her side and pulled down an unnecessary pair of large white sunglasses she pretended to flirt with me, "Hey baybeh, wanna come ride with me?" She and I laughed and she pat the front passengers seat cuing me to come in. Hinata and Tenten were sitting in the back changing clothes. Ino was blasting radio music and rolled down her window to talk to the driver parked next to her, she turned the volume down real quick, "Do you want to drive ahead, or do you want to be in front?" She asked, I leaned up and looked at who Ino was talking to. It was Gaara's older sister, Temari, seeing her at a closer range was pretty cool, she was so pretty.

His older sister noticed me and smiled, I blushed when she looked, then Temari answered Ino, "It doesn't matter. I guess I'll drive in front." And rolled up the window. Kind of felt bad for her, she had all the boys in her car. Must be a riot, it sounded like a zoo in there. Those bunch of monkeys.

Ino nodded once rolling up her window too and they backed up from my driveway and then sped toward the Sabaku family's home. Street lights and homes were all just a big blur, Ino and Temari drove like madmen! –Women! There was a small red light at a stop ahead of us, it grew bigger and the girls halted the cars so quick both back sides left the ground and instantly came back down. I hugged my trembling body and turned to look at the two other girls with us, Hinata and I were shaking together and Tenten was laughing up a storm, she was also the only one to cheer Ino on. I looked back at the stop light, and guesstimated when it would change to green, we were on the end of a mountain slope on the street. Three, two.. Green. It was Temari's car first that skidded the ground and was off in a flash, not much later Ino followed right after her. There were sharp turns everywhere, I knew it! They were trying to kill us all! "Oh my god, Ino! Slow down!" I yelled for my life. Hinata played off of what I said and got even more afraid and started screaming. Temari and Ino were driving so close to the mountain sides, it was so pretty outside why not enjoy the ride up?

The blonde pretended to laugh like a mentally ill person and made the 'Too late, I just threw all caution to the wind!' face. She scoffed, "Oh please! We're gonna be just fine!" She yelled over the wind, "Trust me!" Her eyes told me she was very sure of herself when she looked at me.

"Keep your eyes on the freaking road Ino!" I covered my mine, then I couldn't help _but_ watch as she and the car in front of us evaded death on every turn. I said a little prayer.

"Last turn, gotta make it good!" Ino stomped her foot on the gas pedal and off went the car. It was Temari first, she drifted to the corner on the left and was out of sight. I hoped Ino had driven here before and knew where she was going. Her Buggy was pushing a really high speed and a funny feeling came to my sides, Ino reached the corner and as fast as she could she turned and turned and turned the wheel left. The car skid right for who knows how long but then she was heading straight and slowing down. The mountain must be pretty high because I had to pop my ears. I hadn't seen any other houses around on the way up and then I looked forward and saw an absolutely enormous, positively gorgeous white mansion. Whoa.. I looked out the window and boy.. I was wrong. It wasn't Gaara's home. It was Gaara's _mansion_, the place looked like a castle. The vibrations of powerful music coming from the manor was pulsing through Ino's little purple car. Driving passed their huge round driveway Temari allowed Ino to park in their garage.

The Sabaku children's garage was probably bigger than my house! One large section was for Temari, the second for Kankuro, and Gaara's was on the end, _way_ down on the other side. The room for their vehicles was pure white and came fully equipped with complicated repair instruments and paint job stations. I looked at all of the cars, and apparently each child of the family had five options of transportation. Temari drove all cars, Kankuro drove three cars, owned one boat, and a quad, and Gaara had the most amazing motorcycles I have ever seen, he really wasn't joking.

I realized that Gaara wasn't even home, the motorcycle we rode to my place together wasn't in the garage. I was half disappointed, I remembered when Ino told me about Naruto's, Sasuke's and Gaara's family. That they all had an insane amount of money, these people had more money than god. Letting go of thoughts about Gaara, I thought about how extravagantly these people lived.

Once everyone was ready to head into the mansion pounding with music, I looked around really quick at myself to see if I could find anything to fix, and ended up only having to adjust my shirt hem. Ino took my arm and Naruto called out for everyone to hear, "I call first dibs on a dance with Sakura!" Before entering. The boy with the green clothes sighed in defeat. I looked at Hinata, she was staring at the floor with eyes that said, 'In need of hugs.' I let Ino and everyone go inside and I held Hinata's arm, she looked at me confused, "Hey, it's okay. I'm not that great of a dancer anyway." I told her. I wasn't sure if what I said helped but Hinata smiled and I hugged her, "Plus, he might just be the one wanting to show off to _you_ tonight." I winked. No one else had said anything about it but Hinata had put some effort into looking good tonight, and more likely it was all for Naruto.

A door servant greeted us all and announced Temari's return. Just as soon as we all came in the song Clothes Off by Gym Class Heroes was booming all around the place, the entire inside of the Sabaku manor was filled with students from school, and people the family knew –maybe all of Konoha, at least, every adolescent. The only lights available were hot pink, purple, blue and occasionally they switched to hot colors such as orange, yellow and red. Everybody was dancing and laughing –just having a good time, no, that was a real understatement, a remarkable time. I looked away for one moment and everyone I had come with disappeared in the crowd. Oh this is wonderful. I pushed through all the people, but it felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. I looked around for Naruto, and Ino –anyone. No luck. I sighed, "What am I going to do?" I closed my eyes and listened to the melody and lyrics of the song. It was incredibly spacious in this place, but the temperature kept getting warmer and warmer, and for some awesome reason I wasn't sweating! I really didn't know how to dance, but I thought that I deserved to have a good time, and by that, I would probably end up laughing over myself when I tried to teach myself, just dancing until I got it right. I would look so funny moving around in awful sync with the songs that changed around me, but maybe if I did it enough I would also end up learning how.

I started by just standing there, some people around me stared and probably wondered why I wasn't moving, but then ignored me and did their thing. I lifted my head and closed my eyes. All around, my body felt hotter and hotter and I felt so good. The flow of music began to take me and I started to dance along with everyone else around me, instead of worrying about being lost I would just enjoy myself, I sure as _hell_ deserved it. Who cares what everyone else thinks? I put my hands up over my head like I was trying to reach for something, keeping them up I allowed the melody to enter and take me away. Song was everywhere, and there was me. The rhythm and beat slid down my body, it took hold of me and I grinded by myself, letting the music swim through my waist to my hips and down my legs. I hadn't noticed everyone around me just watching me dance, until I felt someone holding my waist and dancing against me, at first I was surprised but suppressed my panic when I saw that it was one of the hosts of the party –Kankuro! I didn't want to be rude so I went with the current of the tune. He spun me around slowly and he had my back against his chest, I lost myself as I was drawn into the pull of music and I focused on moving my body and grinding against him. Kankuro's breath began to sound harsh, "What's your name?" he asked as we continued to move together.

"Sakura." I told him, getting as low as I could and slowly brought myself back up against his body. Being talked to was not something I wanted while I was trying to enjoy myself, now I really wished he hadn't started to dance with me. He nodded and twirled me around to face him.

"I saw you around school on Friday," He breathed. I shrugged, nodding. "It's not the pink hair." He said. He was so close to me I could almost smell the exact brand of alcohol he'd been drinking, "It's that yummy little waist of yours." Okay. That was totally uncalled for. Maybe I could get him off my chest if I..

"Oh, really." I said trying to sound seductive, "Well, why don't you get me a drink." I said looking in one direction as if I was looking for a bed, "That we can share?" I'm so terrible at being sexy, but Kankuro was drunk.. So maybe I could play that card. He agreed and went on his way, he looked just a bit too excited. Thankfully this wasn't a sober Kankuro, I'd probably have to clobber him.

Finally he was out of sight and I didn't see him come back, I tried to find my place in the swift world of dance and found it, nothing could feel better than this, I thought. Just when I was comfortable again, three ground pounds went through the mansion, and an announcer from the front door that looked like the gate to heaven opened. He loudly informed everyone, "Mr. Gaara Sabaku, has arrived." I heard that being said, but the fact didn't register itself in my head so I ignored it. Nobody even looked at the boy in the doorway, either he was too hard to see or they were just plain mean. I looked at the clock for a second to check the time and the thing was right above a red haired boy. Then I realized, oh my gosh! Gaara! It looked like he could see me dancing, and I tried to ignore his glare. Then I saw Temari rush over to give him a hug.. It looked funny though, not like a real sister hug but more like it was for show. It also appeared like she was inviting him to come dance with the rest of us. I could tell from here he was refusing and probably came up with an excuse to get out of it. She didn't seem like she was putting up much of a fight for him to stay and he left, probably to go to his room. By then I was standing totally still.

I looked around and decided to try and find a bathroom, I was able to make it to the walls of the entrance hall, and for the weirdest reason I felt like I was being watched, or someone was following me, there were muffling sounds. The hallways were all so vast and dark, but I saw that the lights for the restrooms were on and at the end of each hallway stood two large open glass doors to several different courtyards. I was about fifteen feet into the hallway when someone took me in their arms from behind and shoved their hands on my mouth to shut me up. "Mmmm!"

Everywhere inside me started to panic, my kidnapper pressed his face next to mine and deeply sniffed my hair, "I saw you on the dance floor.." The twist in his voice foreshadowed something awful. Oh my god! Naruto! Sasuke! Ino! Anyone! He took me to a corner behind a large pillar and he must have been waiting for a loud song to play so he could make an escape without anyone hearing my cries for help. Tears formed in my eyes, maybe this is my punishment for what happened today with Gaara.. Maybe when mortals performed sinful acts with demons of the underworld they pay with their most precious gifts. His rough hand still covered my mouth, but the other felt around my body, and I was so afraid I couldn't even move. The song Jump by another artist called Flo Rida played. I thought about my mom and dad. They hadn't called me once since they left, I thought about my friends who abandoned me. His hand was now groping up my right thigh.. it didn't feel like he was going to stop –suddenly I was angry. Angry because of my mixed feelings for the awful, nasty Gaara. Angry because of my cruel parents who left me. Angry at myself for getting distracted and losing my friends. Pissed off at this disgusting pervert, and I couldn't hold it in –I was so angry I began to shake and tears rolled down my cheeks. I didn't know what I was doing but I used both of my elbows and jammed them right into his gut, not that I ever had to, but I had to problem beating someone up from school. How weak was this guy? He'd fallen onto the floor and was groaning in pain, "Crazy bitch!" He blurted out.

Wrong move. I lifted my leg as high as I could and pounded my foot as hard as I could into his stomach. "Just try to touch me again." I threatened him, spitting poisonous words came easy after my experiences with Gaara. Before I turned to join the party again I looked at him one last time, "Ass hole."

I was able to find a powder room and I locked the door. I walked over to the crystal clear mirrors and looked at myself. I shouldn't have come to this party, I should have stayed home.. My body felt so used up it wasn't fair, and still it was me who brought that on myself. I haven't even been living here for a week yet and I was making choices I never would have made in a million years and I wanted so bad to blame my parents. Was I using the attention of these boys to fill in the void my parents left behind? Their false love or whatever it was felt real, and probably only because I wanted to believe that someone wanted me. No boy had ever really given me attention before, what was it about me to the boys in Konoha that was so special? Is that why I wanted Gaara the way I did before he left me alone in my room? I held both my arms, there was no way I could look myself in the eye. What had I become? I bit my lip to fight back the tears, I was so selfish. This isn't mom's and dad's fault. It was then and there that I knew I had to change what I was doing to myself, because I was going down a bad road, and I'm not a bad person. No more boys, unless there is only _one_.

The music outside the door dimmed into a slow song. Isn't that's just peachy. Slow songs meant actually dancing with someone else. The idea really didn't appeal to me only because one, I don't have anyone to dance with, and two, I don't know how to slow dance. Finally I was able to face myself in the mirror, and I found that combing my fingers through my pink hair was comforting. My self esteem was now at limbo and I just wanted to go home. My cell phone rang in my pocket, I took out the phone and answered, "Hello?" A box of tissues rested in front of me and I took one out to play around with. I pulled the two sheets apart.

"Hey, Sakura?" It was Naruto, "Where are you? We've been looking all over." He sounded a bit worried, "Are you okay?" My eyes blinked twice. They were looking for me?

"Oh.. Uh, yeah I'm fine. Don't be silly." I tried to sound like I wasn't moved. "Where are you?" I asked and turned around, after crumpling up the tissue I tossed it into the trash and headed toward the door to leave and find him.

"Middle of the dance floor," I could hear the grin in his voice, "You owe me that dance." I rolled my eyes when he said that, but I couldn't help smiling either. Funny guy.

I purposely took a second or two to answer him, "I dunno, Naruto. I'm not much of a dancer." I heard him snicker at what I said. It was exhausting to try getting passed all these people, although with effort I made it halfway to the middle of the dance floor.

"That's not what Kankuro told me." He teased. Darn that Kankuro! Did men always have to talk about every little thing that they do with girls? Come on, seriously.

Hmph. At last I reached the middle, I looked but didn't see him, Naruto could be anywhere around this spot, I got on my toes and looked around a bit more, then I saw a tall blonde boy on his phone and knew it was him, "Well, Kankuro can just bite me. Turn around by the way." I said and hung up. Naruto stared at his phone for a minute and turned like I asked him to, he saw me and came over. "Hey there." I said smiling. He laughed and scratched behind his head.

Naruto cleared his throat and pretended to sound like a perfect gentleman, "Hello, miss. May I have this dance?" His left arm went behind his back and the right was held out to me. I nodded smiling and accepted his hand. Trying to be funny he looked behind him and whispered, "Yes!"

I couldn't help but laugh at him, "Be quiet and dance with me!" Pretending to demand it of him, he laughed again too. I clasped my hands around his neck, as he took my waist. So, slow dancing wasn't so hard, all you have to do is step back and forth with the course of the song.

The rest of the night actually ended a lot better than I had expected it to. Naruto protected me from any other male suitors. Ino, Hinata, and Temari finally found me when Ino stole Kankuro's phone charger to give her's some power to call me. We later found out that Tenten and Neji got together and announced their relationship as girlfriend and boyfriend over a microphone –because it was about time! Everybody cheered for them. Chouji and Shikamaru were found in a lounging area, Chouji had really helped himself to the Sabaku's dining rooms. Shikamaru was just too lazy to really do anything, although we did hear that he spent a lot of time playing videogames in the recreation hall. And I decided not to talk about what happened to me.

Temari was able to get everyone in our group rides home, since Ino had her car; Hinata, me and Tenten were covered. I was thankful the drive back wasn't crazy like it was on the way up there. Actually Ino had gotten herself a bit drunk, or maybe a lot. We had to stop the car so Tenten could take over driving, because Ino started puking. Hinata couldn't handle the smell and as usual Tenten fanned Hinata's face while I held back Ino's long and beautiful blonde hair from getting wet. I felt bad for her, she was a real mess. Resuming the car ride Hinata sat beside Tenten in the front and I had Ino lie on my shoulder until we reached my house. Holy moly was I tired.

"Will she be all right on the way back?" I ran inside my house real quick and brought the girls some water bottles.

Tenten thanked me and had a few sips of water, "She'll be fine." The brunette assured me with a smile, "Just needs a lot of sleep tonight and some good morning food when she wakes up." I nodded listening to her. "By the looks of it I guess we won't be hanging out tomorrow, but we'll just push our plans to next weekend." She looked back at Ino, who was in awful shape. "Welp, we should probably head out. See you later, Sakura." Tenten gave me a hug and got in the car.

"All right, that's cool. See you Monday." Tomorrow would be a great day to just sleep in and relax until Monday. I really didn't want to go to school after tonight, but when I did, that pervert better not run into me. "Bye Hinata!" The poor dizzy girl with short hair turned in a daze and waved goodbye. She sort of has a weak stomach constitution.

I wasted no time getting in the house, if I didn't hurry I'd crash right on the floor asleep. Walking up to the door I lifted the mat and used the spare key, I slapped my hand to my forehead. I just _had_ to turn all the lights off when I left didn't I? I felt around for a light switch and my leg hit a moving box. Geez! Where's a freaking switch? I decided to forget about it and tried to feel my way to the stairs, my hands found the guide rails and I walked up. "Mm.. The light should be.. right here." My finger flipped the switch and then there was light! I laughed at that, I'm such a dork. I saw the clothes I'd thrown on my bed from earlier and hung them over my arm, I took a step and my foot stepped on what felt like a book. I balled my clothes and threw them near my dirty clothes basket, of course I missed the shot. Sitting on the floor I lifted up the mattress skirt and picked up a black notebook, but it wasn't just an ordinary black notebook. It was _Gaara's_ creepy notebook! Journal! Thing.

I examined the front and back, "Interesting." Actually there was nothing really going on, on the outside.. But the inside.. I almost opened to a random page and stopped, Should I? Was it right for me to just barge in on his privacy? Thinking about it, that stupid red-haired smoking machine had crossed a lot of lines, it wouldn't hurt to take a look at a page or two. I closed my eyes and I tightly held the spine and my other hand bent and flipped the pages. There were a lot of little sketches portraying people and their actions.. Also a whole lot of pictures of buildings on fire.. There were descriptions under the sketches of people as to why they were drawn, or there were just normal imageless entries. This looked like a therapy assignment. At least Gaara was getting some kind of help. I wondered if there was anything about me in here. I looked for the day I ran into him at the mall. That awful, fateful day.

_Sept. 15_

_There is nothing more pointless than the idea to shop for things you don't need. Kankuro needs face makeup for a football game. Something about team spirit, another thing just as pointless as shopping. Then there is Temari who needs clothes for a party she and Kankuro are throwing on Saturday, because her closet isn't already filled enough with clothes she doesn't wear._

_I hate parties. The idea of ear pounding music and a room full of sweaty, horny teenagers doesn't interest me._ _I don't know why I have to go with them, unless the blonde bimbo and football hero don't believe I won't pull the house down to hell._

I had to laugh at him for saying such a thing. He could totally do that.

_I couldn't take any more questions such as, 'Does this make my butt look big?' 'This makes me feel like a tramp, should I really wear this?' Kankuro said whatever he could to please Temari so she would pick something so we could leave. She wasn't satisfied, and in reality, yes her ass looked huge in those clothes. Eventually she was able to decide on a pair of jeans and a shirt. I don't need to get into detail._

_Kankuro bought his face paint and I decided to go to HotTopic to find a notebook to success this one. There were too many designs on all of them and I bought nothing. Upon leaving, a sidetracked pink haired girl rammed herself into me before my dumb siblings and I left the mall. What a stupid girl, not watching where her limp feet are going. Was she raised in a zoo? Her blonde friend goes to my school, unfortunately we share the same first period. The pink haired girl never should have crossed my path, if it were up to me I'd make her life a living hell. God, I could use a cigarette right now._

Then I saw a picture of what looked like me and Ino tied to a tree with sharp arrows all around us. What the heck? Right then I decided to close the notebook. I didn't dare read any more of it. Now, that hurt my feelings. I don't deserve eternal hatred, what a meanie head. I pulled my backpack close to me and stuck his creepy notebook inside, "What a creepo!" I hope he ended up taking a huge puff of smoke tonight and passed out –I took that back, yes, it was my fault, but he didn't have to hate me forever after that, I was serious. But did he hate me now? He kissed me today.. I shook my body to forget and I went to my bathroom to a take a shower. The hot water felt almost too wonderful on my skin, I squirted shampoo and conditioner and rubbed it together in my hair. Oh, it smelled so good. I sat on the floor of my shower and let the water fall on me. I pulled my body close and shut my eyes. I needed a hug, why did Tsunade have to go out this weekend? At least she was coming back tomorrow. I lifted my head and rubbed my eyes, squinting through the water rushing down on my back and my head. There was something magical about taking a shower. I felt like in this moment in time, there was only me and nothing else existed. A pink loofah sat next to me on the tile shower seat, I pumped soap on the outer area and scrubbed myself. After washing my whole body I stood up to rinse, when I was done I turned the water faucets off. A cold rush of air attacked my body as I opened the curtains. Hheeeeaaaahhhh... a chill ran down my spine.

My towel made up for the coldness that tried to wrap around me, instead I had a warm and fuzzy towel. I smiled, "Mmm..!" Twisting my pink hair and ringing the water out. I brushed my teeth and left my bathroom, I walked over to my bed and let myself fell onto it. The light in the middle of my room was visible through my closed eyes. I couldn't move, even opening my eyes again was hard, I was too tired. Scrounging up for enough energy I crawled under my sheets without changing into pajamas and turned off the lights with a switch next to the headboard. I took a deep breath and sleep took me.

_I opened my eyes and flames surrounded me. The room where I was didn't belong to me, I'd never been to this place before. The only light allowing me to see came from the fire, it looked like I was in a medical facility. I was sitting in a hospital bed, throwing the covers off of my body, I headed for the door. The ceiling fell around me and sealed shut the exit blocking my escape. I turned around looking for a window –something to help me out. My foot caught on the blanket I'd thrown to the floor and I fell forward–_

"Eeek!" I screamed falling out of my bed. Why was I so cold? I felt my body. Oh, god I'm naked! I scrambled getting up to find some clothes. I went to my dresser and pulled out a t-shirt with a pair of matching shorts. I looked at Tsunade's note from yesterday, to see when she'd be coming back. _'Gambling until tomorrow night.' _"Oh.. Yeah." The towel had fallen out of my bed when I tumbled off, I folded and placed it in the dirty clothes basket. While I was making my bed my stomach kept growling, I was really hungry. Hold on, I'm almost done. I said to myself, the noise still didn't stop. I wouldn't leave my room until it was nice and clean. When I decided that it was decent enough I went downstairs to make breakfast.

If I were a batch of waffle mix, where would I be? I asked myself, looking through the cabinets. The telephone rang as I searched and on the third toll I answered, "Hello?" Tsunade really needed caller ID.

"Morning Sakura.." It was Ino, and boy did she sound awful. Finally I discovered the mix in the island cupboard. "How're you doing?" My hungover friend asked.

"Good, just about to make some waffles." I said, "How are you though? Looks like you had a pretty rough time at the end of the party. It's not good to drink at our age I almost can't believe you." I tried to sound light. I took a gallon of milk from the refrigerator and set it on the counter next to a bowl I had out ready. Now I needed a spoon or mixer.

"Ugh, please don't talk about food, Pinky." Ino groaned, "Well, I'm not feeling as bad as last night I'll tell you. I know I shouldn't drink, I only do it on special occasions." I could try and believe that. "I hurled all over Tenten this morning and Hinata fainted." She told me. Spoon, spoon, spoon. Got it!

I put the phone on my shoulder and laughed, "Poor girls. What are they doing right now?" I poured some mix into the bowl, then added some milk and stirred.

"Well, Tenten is in the shower and Hinata is fetching me a toothbrush." She breathed into the phone and laughed. Ew. Um, Lysol at the Hyuga's please.

I searched for a waffle pan, "Be sure to use mouthwash too." This conversation was making me lose my appetite. I didn't want to think about Ino's stomach problems. I made up an excuse, "Sorry Ino, but my stoves on fire, can I call you back?"

"Oh god, sure. Bye Sakura." She hung up fast so I could take care of the non-existent fire. Ino is a really good friend. I plugged the pan into the outlet and empted some of the mix I made inside. I set the clock to the amount of time the instructions suggested, this is going to be so yummy, I said smiling to myself with a jug of maple syrup in hand, and butter waiting on the counter.

In the mean time I skipped over to the living room and turned on the TV. The movie Five Centimeters Per Second was in progress, and I remembered when this had first come out –I love it, the story was beautiful. I sat on the couch, took a pillow in my arms and cuddled with it. There was a ting sound in the kitchen a little bit later and I hurried back to claim my breakfast, leaving the television on. Before eating I cleaned up my mess, putting away the utensils and things, then finishing my work with wiping off the counter. I cut a small piece of butter and poured some syrup on my waffles, and placed the plate on the coffee table in the living room. I went back to grab a fork and a cup of milk. My waffles were never as good as grandma Tsunade's but they were still pretty impressive. I loved every bite. I wondered if Gaara ate waffles too for a moment, _random_. I thought after that and laughed, I imagined his angry self enjoying a plate of waffles. There was a close up and syrup was dripping from his mouth. Another huge laugh built up in my chest and I cracked up hysterically. Gaara and waffles. They probably didn't go together very well, but it'd be funny to actually see him eat a waffle one time.

Thinking about Gaara gave me flashbacks about our little scene yesterday.. I could almost still feel his lips on my skin and a chill ran down my spine. I had to admit though, he was a skilled kisser, not that I really knew how to, for all I know I could have been terrible, but had he ever kissed a girl before? Hold on a minute. He and I kissed.. His lips touched mine. Oh. My. God! Gaara was my first kiss! That conniving fool was my first kiss! It wasn't even romantic! It was angry, provided by him and myself, and confusing! Gah! I rolled around on my couch and shook my head. No, that doesn't count! Then I remembered putting aside our irritation toward each other enough to have a crazy make out session. "Awhahaa…" I groaned into the couch seat like a whining four year old. Was he going as insane as I was right now? Or would he be too prideful to even think that such a thing really did happen between the both of us? How cruel. If he does decide to do that, and just in case he does, I'll forget about it too. Nothing happened.

I sighed taking my plate and cup to the sink to wash. While working on the dish I saw Tsunade's car pull up into the driveway. What? It's only –I looked at the clock, four? How long did I need to sleep in? Sheesh, some party. The garage opened and closed. I set the plate, fork and spoon in the dishwasher and went to the door to greet my grandmother.

She saw me walk out and waved from inside the car, I waved back with a big cheesy grin. Tsunade laughed rolling her eyes at me. She opened the door to get out, "Hey Sakura! I see you survived the night without me." Picked up her bag and came over to give me a hug. "You didn't throw any parties now, did you?" She teased knowing I never would.

I laughed and said, "No," Maybe I would one day, "But I went to one though." I had no reason to keep that fact from her. She and I never held secrets from each other.

"That so?" She asked as I fetched her a glass of orange juice. "Where? Did you have a good time?" I knew she was hoping that I did, but for some reason she was focusing on my face. I looked around feeling insecure.

Stealing a seat beside her at the island counter I said, "The Sabaku's. Well, it was durable." It actually was really great, aside from a total high school student molest attack in which I was totally capable in taking care of myself. I rolled my eyes. It was cool that Tsunade was totally fine with me and parties, it helped that we could trust each other.

"Oh, I See." She drank some juice, "I thought you'd say something better, the Sabaku family is pretty notorious for throwing some really awesome celebrations, even for no reason. I'm always refusing invites to formal get-togethers, but they're impressive they tell me." Her eyes were still concentrated on me.

I stopped beating around the bush, "Um.. Question. Are there crumbs on my face or something?" I pointed at myself.

"Is there something you're not telling me Miss Haruno?" She asked with a light edge and smiled setting her glass down.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Was she drinking this morning? I looked at her to check.

"You look different, that's all." Her facial expression settled down, "You have the face of someone who's been liplocked." Tsunade's right arm rested on the counter, her cup in hand again she swished the orange juice around, "Did you kiss someone at the party?"

Crap. Was Tsunade good or what. "Nothing gets passed you, doesn't it?" I looked at the gorgeous figure in front of me, how did she and mom do it? They never look old, they could be my sisters, except for the fact that only mom and I have pink hair. Plus, mom doesn't have that real spunky streak that grandma has. "I was hoping to avoid this conversation.." I said under my breath.

From the corner of my eye I noticed her attention spark, "Actually I was kidding!" She laughed, "Now you have to tell me about it. Who was he? And was he good?" Tsu_nade_! I sunk inside.

"Just some kid, and no, it was terrible." It didn't look like she believed me.

"Just come out with it, I'm not your dad." She laughed, "I'm not going to hunt this kid down and kill him." I laughed with her and slowly my laughter quieted down. No use in lying to this woman.

"It was one of the Sabaku boys." I admitted, my cheeks felt warm and I couldn't look at her, I focused outside the window above the sink.

"Isn't Kankuro a little too old?" Um.. Not really, he still goes to our highschool. She had gotten up to get more orange juice and something to munch on. I waited before I answered.

"Actually he's not the one I was talking about.." I said quietly. She stopped quick and looked at me in a concerned way.

"Come again?" She asked with a full cup of orange juice and a package of Nori in hand.

I sighed. I should have just left it alone when she mentioned Kankuro. "Gaara was the one I was kissing." Tsunade's face was unbelieving and then she started to crack up. Um.. Did I say something funny?

She wiped some tears from her eyes from laughing so much, "I'm sorry, Sakura. Maybe you were mistaken at the party, there might have been some kid who looked just like him, but believe me, Gaara doesn't let anyone touch him. I'm not just exaggerating this either, I really mean _nobody_. Unless he gets into those fights I hear about sometimes." I shook my head.

"It wasn't at the party.." I began, and she came back to sit next to me. "You see, after he and I left the library.. I invited him over." I looked at her and she nodded for me to go on, "And we were working," Well, I was, he'd already finished. "And I accidently fell on him from my bed and we were so mad at each other that we kissed." I explained, it sounded weird when I replayed those words in my head.

"So.. You were both mad.. And you kissed." She sounded confused, but all I could do was nod saying yes. "Huh. Don't let my reaction fool you. I'm shocked." My grandma actually did look surprised, "Well, was he good at it? I didn't even know he would let anyone get close enough to him, even if it was a girl."

I thought if I should tell her, in truth, for a first kiss.. Which I always heard were the worst kisses since you didn't know what you were doing. I wouldn't take this one back. I couldn't believe myself. "He was okay." I shrugged.

"Well, okay then. So what, are you guys dating now?" What's with all the questions! I just wanted to crawl under a rock.

Lying my head on my folded arms I answered, "No, we haven't established anything yet." Yet? "He left before I woke up." Tsunade choked on her drink.

"Woke up? What?" She was blown away from a false action.

"No!" I sighed hard keeping my head down, "It was so intense that I fell asleep, okay? Nothing happened. When I was out cold he just upped and left." I explained.

"Oh, all right all right, relax." She said finally understanding. "What now then?"

"I don't know." I whispered. I think I said that more to myself other than to answer her. Tsunade rubbed my back. No matter what, a good back rub was always able to calm me down when I needed it. I sat back up to hug her, "Well I'm glad we had this talk it was enlightening." I said sarcastically. I stood up from my high chair and went to go turn off the TV.

When I passed the kitchen to go up to my room Tsunade stopped me asking, "Do you like Gaara?" She was still sitting there.

I huffed, "Gah!" And ran upstairs and closed the door locking it. Did she have to tease me about such a thing? So _what_ if I like Gaara. Well, not that kind of like but he was okay enough to be around. Not even that, but maybe he had good days? Ugh. Who cares.

I didn't leave my room for the rest of the night, I took a relaxing shower and I was able to get my mind off of things. I knew I had to face him tomorrow, we were partners in two classes and contact was the inevitable. Just because I was having a personal issue with a psychopath didn't mean I would let it get in the way of my school performance. Take that Gaara Sabaku. I fell asleep feeling totally confident for the next day.

The freakishly loud alarm on my clock went off and I gradually made movement as it woke me. I shot up still sitting in my bed and grabbed my clock to checked the time, "There's no way it's already –six forty.." I fell back onto my bed groaning. I could hear Naruto downstairs talking about taking me to school last Friday morning and that he said it was really fun, then I overheard Tsunade asking if he could take me everyday. He said yes without hesitation. I had a go-to-school buddy now. Slowly letting the rest of my body wake up too I walked over to my closet to find something to wear to school today.

I selected a black and white checkered t-shirt and a pair of white shorts, tossing them over to my bed along with a pair of socks. Just like usual I took my hair brush and ran it through my pink hair all around once and then brushed my teeth. I threw off my clothes and into the dirty hamper they went. Before hooking on my bra I looked at my boobs, they were just as cute as I last saw them, I smiled pulling on the shirt I picked over my head. Then I stepped into the shorts and pulled them up to button and zip. I adjusted my hair out from under the shirt color and decided I was ready to go. I looked for my backpack next to my bed and hung it over my shoulder as I went downstairs.

"Goodmorning Sakura!" Naruto waved from the island counter, "Ready for a second day of school?" He asked with a bowl of cereal in his hand. Tsunade was preparing a bowl for me as I sat next to him.

I yawned, "Good morning Naruto." I said with a tired smile. The bright blue eyed boy chuckled and Tsunade handed me my cereal, "Thanks." I yawned again and wiped sleepy tears from my eyes. Waking up at six forty was a real hassle sometimes. Naruto and I finished eating and then got our things ready to go. This time he took my bowl along with his to the sink as I tied my shoes on Tsunade handed me money for lunch.

"Get something good for yourself, kay?" She gave me a hug, "Have a good day, Sakura. I'll see you after work. And you too Naruto, have a good day. " She said to us as we put our things into the car. Pulling out of the driveway he and I waved goodbye to my grandmother and drove off to school.

"Thanks for the rides, Naruto." I yawned but I meant it. I was leaning back in my seat and turned my head over to see him. He had a big smile on.

"Come on, Sakura. It's my pleasure." He said. Naruto was so nice, hanging out with him was fun. He was like the brother I never had but always wanted. "Plus, you're on the way." I never would have expected such a relationship if we were back at the mall when I saw him the first time.

"I just really appreciate it." I finished. "I think the first thing I'll do is head right to class and take a nap until school starts." I could see other students driving to school with their parents or friends when I looked out the window. Temari's car was slowly inching in front of Naruto's. They were pulling into the school parking lot.

"That sounds like a good idea." He nodded folding his arms. Naruto honked his horn at Temari to go faster and park, she lifted her middle finger without looking back. He and I laughed.

Finding his space Naruto waited for Kiba to park next to him and he went after. I turned around to see behind us and there was Shikamaru and behind him was Chouji. I waved hello to Shikamaru and he returned my greeting. Naruto drove into his spot and turned off the car. "Here we go!" He said with a big smile at me, I smiled back at him.

"Let's do this!" I replied with new found confidence. Naruto handed me my backpack, "Thanks!" I said, if I was going to get in that nap, I had to hurry my buns to my desk. Before he could say anything I was already running off. I could still hear him behind me for only a little.

"Whoa, what's got her butt in a rut?" Kiba asked Naruto as he stuffed his dog into his jacket.

Our blonde friend started laughing, "Butt in a rut!" He laughed, "That rhymes." I was far and slowing down but it sounded like Kiba had hit Naruto beside the head, because I heard Naruto screaming 'Why me?'

I chose to walk the rest of the way to my first period class room. Of course no one was inside, it was only seven thirty-eight, and thank god school starts at eight seventeen, that meant more sleep for me. I opened the door and walked to my seat, slowly letting my side backpack down. I sat and folded my arms and lied my head down on them, I was facing right. My body took probably about ten minutes to adjust comfortably in my surroundings, slowly I began dozing off, I was just about to fall asleep when I heard a door open. A figure in black came next to me and pulled what looked like a sweater off and placed it over me gently, the words were muffled but I could have sworn I heard the words, "Stupid girl." The voice ran a chill through me. I wasn't conscious enough to wonder about it and passed out.

I don't know how long I was asleep for but I also wasn't fully awake. Although I could smell faint cigarette smoke, and I could hear others around me, followed by more people coming in. Girls talking from across the room probably thought that they weren't speaking that loud but I could make out their not so quiet whispers, "Are they dating?"

"I dunno, but why else would she have that on her?" The other girl replied. I lifted myself off of my folded arms and a large black hoodie slightly slipped from my shoulders. Mm? I took it from around me and recognized the sweater almost immediately. I remembered from last Friday when I first sat next to Gaara –_He had that same caramel side backpack, a dark gray and black long sleeved shirt, underneath a black short sleeved t-shirt, and faded black jeans.. Gaara had laid his, of course, black hoodie on the top of his backpack. _Then there was another memory_ –Gaara stuffed his creepy notebook into his bag and reached for his jacket to put on._ Did he really do this? The green eyed wonder wasn't in his seat, and none of his things were around either.

I looked left at Ino who was trying to deny it all for me, and she looked back. Just in case I made a gesture asking if she had done this. The blonde shook her head no. Surprise opened my eyes a little more. Kiba was scratching his head and Hinata was talking about it with Tenten. And I wondered if I should tell the girls about what happened on Saturday at lunch. Then my thoughts were back on Gaara, did he have too much pride to come to class? Did he ditch? I thought about looking for him at his smoke spot after first period ended.. Not only that.. I felt around my backpack, and my fingers touched his creepy notebook. I would have to return this.

Anko slammed the door open, "All right everybody! _Shut up_! I'm taking roll." She announced looking over her roll sheet on that clipboard she always seemed to carry around. Quickly she walked to the chalkboard and wrote down the names of those who were absent, I was sure that roughly the only one who was absent was Gaara. Who could possibly be late for school or even want to be absent when it only started at eight seventeen? How pathetic would that be? "_O_kidoki.. Mr. Gaara is out. A_gain_." She said to herself recording the attendance. There was no way he couldn't be at school today, I didn't have his jacket when I came –he certainly wouldn't leave it with me at home. The teacher then looked around at all of us, "So I was thinking about it, and I thought that it would be a great idea if you guys would come to me every three weeks to let me know about the progress or _non-_progress you're all making. Please come with your partner. Or else." She put on a crazy look on her face and looked around the room, "Kay guys. Do whatever." Anko finally said heading over to sit in her desk, she threw her feet over the table and leaned back in her chair. Ino and the girls rushed to my side and dumped questions all over me.

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**Alllllrighty! So that's chapter four! You know, I have to admit I'm not sure if this turned out really well, mostly because a lot of stupid things kept preventing me from writing. But I really hope you guys like it, I'm going to work even harder with the rest of the following chapters and I can promise you won't be disappointed. BELIEVE IT!**

**Crazy questions! So, now what of Gaara? Did he really just leave his jacket for Sakura? What are the girls going to think if Sakura actually is going to tell them about her little fling with the green eyed wonder? And if ever possible, can our redhead boy and pink haired girl truly learn to accept each other and be friends? Not only that, but in the next few chapters I think we'll be able to learn more about our awesome redhead Gaara! Stay tuned for Chapter 5 and we'll see!**

**Until we meet again! :] Byebye! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi guys! I'm so so soooo sorry this took so long to come out.. It's been a really out-of-my-mind week and a half. I suffered terrible writers block, because of a break up and also it gave me the effects of zero concentration –but now I'm back and better than ever! I'm doing just fine, and I'm living life with a smile every morning. And new ideas for the next chapters! Also, to make up for my absence I'm definitely confident in telling you all that chapter six might be one of the most exciting chapters! Plus! Lot's of GaaSaku action! This chapter is mostly a foreshadowing but I hope you like it anyway, I've haven't been well so I'm not sure how this really turned out. It's all I could think about and I just didn't know what to do.**

**Once again, you guys are just so awesome and sweet and amazing! Thanks so so so so so so so much for the reviews! They make me so happy –I'm a bit embarrassed but I squeal when I see all of your feedback, it definitely helps me get through the thoughts of break up and keeps me going! THANK YOU!! =)**

**One More Thing: [[[I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!]]]**

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"What is the meaning of this? Am I to believe over a three day span that you and Gaara Sabaku are an item? What the heck is with this jacket business?" She held his poor sweater in her right hand and flung it around. "Is there something you're not telling us?" Ino yanked all of those questions out in one breath, she planted her feet right in front of me, and her face was now less than the length of a foot to mine. All the while Hinata and Tenten sat on either side of me, both nodding their heads as Ino asked all the questions. Compared to talking about it with Tsunade yesterday, this was pure torture. Thanks Gaara.

I tried to explain things, "Ino you're getting it all wrong I–" But she poured more icing on the cake interrupting me.

"The guy's a serial killer!" My overreacting friend added, and must be exaggerating. If he even _was_ a killer, I don't think the school would keep him. Then she made a face of terror, "Don't you know how dangerous this guy is? You're going to wind up in a gutter one night and I might get a phone call in a request to identify your body!" Uh.. I thought that was the parent's job. Her fist pounded on my desk, "He's a psycho! You might like the bad boy image now, but don't make yourself regret it!" The warnings and questions just went on and on. I'd rather listen to her jabber on about Sasuke than explain my make-believe relationship with Gaara. I think Ino was taking this too seriously, Gaara had never really killed anybody, I don't think, I mean I still had to ask him about the 'fire' incident. And so what, maybe when he was pushed to the edge he would beat up a few kids? That didn't mean he would do that to me, would he? Because what if they deserved it? I took a moment to consider that. Then I thought about that time with the cigarette he shoved in my mouth. Well..

Tenten held her head up with two fingers between her eyes, "Let's not jump to conclusions just yet, Ino. And stop yelling, you're attracting attention." She sounded annoyed for a second, turning all of our attention to the rest of the class. Bun hair girl was right, Ino had indeed gotten everyone's attention. She looked back at me, "Sakura please answer Ino, she'll probably explode. Is something going on between you and Gaara or not?"

I looked at all three of their faces and shook my head, "Of course not. Besides, the only titles that he and I share are biology and gym partner." I sighed heavily and continued, "Don't you guys remember lunch on Friday? I'm not interested in having a boyfriend right now. It would be too complicated, what with my parent's divorce and getting used to a new school. I just don't have that kind of time. End of story." I said finally, I wasn't going to bother with Ino's constant questions, what I said is enough of an answer to them all. In a way I was sort of disappointed. There's no way now to tell them about our steamy kiss when they're freaking out this much over a stupid jacket. I blushed but kept it to myself.

Hinata smiled fixing our blonde friend's hair, "I think that should settle it all then. Right Ino?" She said standing up to go sit back in her chair, "It's all a big misunderstanding." That's _right_! I nodded firmly. Tenten got ready to move too. Geez, whenever Gaara was the subject of a conversation, it was such a puzzling hassle. Another reason why I don't like talking about him. "We're sorry about this Sakura, we should have known you would not jump into a relationship with someone like him."

"Yeah.. Someone like him." I repeated slowly as Hinata and Tenten went back to their seats to work on the project. The second reason why talking about him sucked, was because it only brought more and more questions that could possibly never be answered, and unanswerable questions are one of the things I hate most. Although perhaps it's not a total loss, he and I are biology partners.. Last night I already knew that contact was the inevitable. I could still satisfy my need to know who this damned boy was. I rubbed my hands together in a falsely sinister way, completely forgetting that Ino was still next to me. I looked back at her and froze. Oops.

She stared at my now embarrassed self, "Just tell me one thing." She started and leaned a bit closer and whispered, "Do you like him?" Ugh.. I folded my arms to drop my forehead on. I give up. I've never hated hearing that question so much in my life.

"No, Ino. I don't like Gaara." I said in defeat, my voice was probably muffled by the desk table right under my face. I knew she was still wondering about his sweater, but I actually didn't know much about it myself. I came back up and sat straight. Why _would_ he cover me with it?

My thoughts were cut off when Anko threw a piece of chalk right between my friend and I, "Blondie! Get back to your partner!" She demanded. Ino had been so surprised by the attack she ran to her seat absolutely silent. The girls and I giggled quietly when Ino tripped over her backpack but fell right in her chair. "Haruno!" Anko then called to me, I looked in her direction with slightly wide eyes, "Come here a moment." She said, gesturing me to come.

I turned slowly out of my seat feeling nervous. I didn't mean for our powwow to be that disturbing, I thought what I told the girls ended things pretty quick. I reached her desk and Anko lowered her feet to twist her chair to fully face me, "Yes?" I asked playing with the hems of my shorts.

"How's working with Gaara?" She asked somewhat quietly. My head tilted to the side, her words didn't register yet and then it clicked. She twirled a pencil between her fingers, and it randomly made me think of how I wish I could do that.

"Fine, I guess. We don't really understand each other, but we're sort of getting the hang of it." I told her. Yeah right, he and I were miles apart when it came to functioning well together. "He's a good partner." I said, trying to give him a better name while also trying to sound indifferent about it, I don't need any more questions about the lunatic.

A small but surprised smile came from Anko's face, "You don't say?" I shrugged at her words. "At the very least, I have to tell you that this is definitely a first." My teacher looked up at me with a big smile, "I thought I'd partner you with Ino or someone if things didn't work out. Though it looks like you and Sabaku are doing just fine." I wanted to slap myself in the face. "You can go back to your seat now, just wanted to check things." She eased in. Wow, I hate my life. I turned to go back and when I did returned to the position I had going right after I came into the class this morning and huffed. How dare he leave me here with all the sharks. The jerk's gonna pay.

Not much later the school bell rang for the second class, I gathered my things and before I knew it Ino was right next to me. "Hey." She sounded a bit quiet as I was stuffing things into my bag.

"Hey there?" I said in a way that would help her get the message to explain why she was acting funny all of a sudden. I picked up Gaara's sweater and folded it to put in my backpack along with everything else.

Her eyes followed the piece of clothing. "Sorry for earlier, I just don't want you to forget about Gaara's viciousness." She halfheartedly put her hands up in a form of claws and I laughed.

"Forget it, it's cool." I said throwing the strap over my shoulder. "Let's get out of here." Just please never bring it up again.

"Yeah," She said smiling, "I'll show you to your second period class. I heard you got lost because Hinata has the same teacher. She said Kakashi waited to start the class until you got there. He was probably just procrastinating like always." Ino rolled her eyes, "He's super hot, and never on time. You know, I think he's several chapters behind every other class that teaches History." What a bum. We walked out into the busy traffic of a hallway, and I forgot how many people who hadn't seen me before because I missed pretty much all of my classes on Friday. I heard a ton of comments about my pink hair, and gradually as there were more students that were upperclassman and I began noticing their unpleasant gossip about me. When the crowd was too big Ino cleared her throat and yelled, "Everybody move!" And a pathway was made for us to get by. She didn't seem to notice the not so nice comments about me, but even I was starting to make the 'What?' face and turned around a few times.

There were two girls leaning against their lockers, and as Ino and I walked passed them I heard one openly and purposely loud enough for me to hear her say, "That's the girl who jumped Konohamaru at Kankuro's party." The other girl looked around uncaringly but didn't see me. "Pinky over there." I could feel her point at me from behind.

"Oh yeah, I heard she beat him up until he would sleep with her. What a slut." The other girl said. What a nasty lie! Was Konohamaru the name of that _sick_ pervert? And how dare they talk about me that way? What bitches. As much as possible I tried to shrug off their words, letting it get to me would be allowing them to win.

Ino turned to me as we walked, "Almost there." Finally, because I can't wait to get out of this stupid hall. She and I were heading towards the direction of Gaara's locker, maybe he would be there. I got myself onto my tip toes and tried to look over the crowd. He wasn't there. Where was he? "Looking for something?" Ino asked trying to see what I was searching for.

"Nothing, I thought I saw Naruto over there." I replied scratching behind my head. We were heading up one floor using a staff stairwell. Down one more hallway was my next class, my blonde friend and I hugged before saying goodbye. "Thanks Ino, you were a big help." I told her.

"Anytime babe, I gotta hurry so I'll see you at lunch." She said and spanked me while I was turned to walk inside.

I laughed and while she walked away I called out to her, "Do it again!" She turned around and mouthed, 'Oh, I will.'

Quietly, as I opened the door to walk in, all eyes flashed onto me. I had a look at their expressionless faces, although some seemed to be interested in who I was. _Well, this is awkward_. With everybody watching me like that I felt very stiff, without a single teacher in sight I didn't know what to do, so I thought I would just wait a little. Hinata caught my eyes and pointed to a desk that sat next to her on the left. Hopefully without looking too eager I went over to sit beside her. No one focused on me any longer when I set my things down, and I felt so much better. "Thanks Hinata." I breathed in relief.

"Glad to be of service." She said softly. Why was she so quiet all the time? Never really says a word, that girl. "Mr. Hatake seems to be taking even longer to come to class than usual." She said looking at the door, her eyes seemed a bit sad. She didn't have a crush on the teacher did she? How cute! I smiled to myself. "So, how is it really? Associating with Gaara Sabaku I mean..?" Probably able to tell I didn't like talking about him Hinata looked down at her desk.

I sighed inaudibly. "He's a real pain in the ass. Gaara never has anything nice to say, and he's always trying to smoke." I said to start off the facts about him, "He's also a super-smart-mad genius." I added flatly. "Nothing special at all about him after that, except I don't know how he doesn't just pass out, he told me that he _never sleeps_ or something like that. He probably only knows how to make one facial expression, because his face is always angry." Somehow I managed to get all riled up as I talked on about him, "Gaara holds the biggest grudges. I bet right now he's planning to kill me because I bumped into him at the mall. We didn't even know each other then and he's _still_ angry at me!" I panted. I looked over at my shy friend and shook my head.

"I see." She said smiling, "I'm sure he likes you too." The Hyuga girl then pulled up her backpack to take out a history textbook.

"Huh?" She must be dazed from fainting so much. There's no way he would ever like me, did he even know how to like? If so, Gaara had a really weird way of showing it. But it was so obvious that he and I came from different worlds, and that's where we belonged. That's why we were, from _different worlds_. No reason to cross that boundary.. It was only a one time thing.

"Good morning everybody, it's good to see everyone bright eyed and bushy tailed." Some random older student said while peeking his head into our classroom, this guy was really cute. Why was he walking to the teachers' desk though? No way, he's not the–

"Mr. Hatake! You're even more late than usual!" Someone complained. He's the teacher? Nuts! Although now that I look at him, he does have an older man figure. Mr. Hatake covered his left eye with bangs, that's what gave him a teenage streak. I heard a dreamlike sigh and I looked over at a blushing Hinata. It seems she didn't just have eyes for Naruto I see. What was his name.. Kakashi? He looked around the room and spotted me.

"Miss Haruno. Glad to have you join our family." Kakashi said waving at me. I smiled scratching a random place behind my head. "You must have come at a pretty good time be_cause _we're taking a test today." He said coolly. There were sighs all over the room, and twice as many complaints.

"Come on, Kakashi! Be cool man!" A boy yelled from behind the teacher laughed and walked to his desk, reached into his pocket and pulled out a key.

My eyes were widening, I really shouldn't have missed out on Friday. I sighed to myself and sunk into my chair. I don't even know what the test is about! I wish I had a fork to shank myself in the face with. He unlocked a drawer in his desk and took out a stack of stapled papers to pass out.

"Hinata what am I going to do?" I asked desperately, "Grades are my life!" I was shaking my head in worry. My friend sitting next to me pat my arm for comfort. It was nice of her, but it really didn't do much.

"Haruno." Kakashi called my name from the front of the room, "You don't have to take the test. I'll excuse you." He with an easy smile. Then he turned his attention back to the class, "As soon as you've all received your test you may begin. Good luck!"

I whispered 'Good luck.' to Hinata and then she began her test along with the others.

I folded my arms and looked around, Kakashi brought out an orange book from somewhere under his desk after passing out the papers. I've never seen someone so entranced by what they were reading before, he looked like a little boy staring at his favorite piece of candy, I was careful to be quiet as I laughed. It looked like Hinata really knew what she was doing, I saw her eyes scan the questions and immediately she knew the answer. She looked up at me and smiled, I returned the gesture and she went back to taking her test. Looking around the room, I could tell those who were prepared and those who weren't. The kids ready for the test had more relaxed expressions, the others who were not faced the test with very concentrated stares. It was really interesting to see how easy people could be read by their eyes and other features. I wondered if Gaara ever made other faces than that ongoing glare. What could have made him such an irate person? Even when his eyes were closed they looked angry. But.. Under all of that hard skin there had to be a part of himself who didn't want to be that way. Maybe it's smaller than the point of a tack, but it's got to be there. What if someone could make it better?

He did after all give me his sweater, and in every logical reason he didn't have to. I wasn't even cold. "Five more minutes." Kakashi called. Reality pulled me back and I looked at the clock. Five minutes until third period.. Will Gaara be in class this time, or will he decide to ditch again? My guess was that he wasn't coming. As everybody began finishing up their tests, Kakashi stood from his desk and traveled across the classroom collecting the papers and answer sheets. While collecting he thought out loud, "Now, should we all go home with homework today? Chapter six is looking mighty interesting." He asked as he picked up the last exam. People groaned.

"Kakashi! Don't give us homework, it's Monday!" A girl whined, with her friends all nodding their heads behind her.

"Oh, all right." He gave in after postponing his answer, it was obvious he wasn't serious about the homework anyway. "Class dismissed."

"How did the test go Hinata?" I asked her as she put her pencil away somewhere in her backpack.

She looked up for a minute and then replied, "Good thank you, I feel pretty confident about what my results will be." A smile crossed her face. We left Kakashi's classroom and out into a hallway, about to part ways, "I'll see you at lunch?" She asked as we hugged.

"Yup, see you there!" I said heading for the gym, in case Gaara was still at school today I wanted to be by right on time. I heard Hinata say goodbye from behind and I waved not turning back. I felt like I was a very busy bee today, I left Naruto in the dust and a probably now confused Hinata. I'll make it up to them, I promised myself. I hated that the way to gym was a lot farther than the distance between first period and second. A bunch of other people were talking about Konohamaru and I. I tried to brush it all off as much as I could. If these people were just going to judge without getting to know me and use gossip as a quick overall outlook then fuck them.

The girl's locker room had to be the worst. "See her? Konohamaru told me that she tried to sex him up." A random girl said to another, she was talking just like that other girl was before I went to second period. "What a whore. She probably dyes her hair pink for attention."

"Just look at her, no class." Some other girl said joining the conversation. Now their words were starting to sting. It was hard to open my locker when they were talking about me like that. I bit my lip as I took out my extra pair of clothes for the class. Instead of changing with the others I went to a bathroom stall to change. It was so unfair, he attacked _me_. Why would he even bother talking about it? Since coming to Konoha, nothing has been right. I slipped my shirt off over my head and threw on the gym uniform top. I removed my shorts and exchanged them with the school's. Finishing up and folding my clothes I tried to stuff them into whatever room I had left in my backpack. The same girls were still nearby and I didn't want to see their faces when I had to pass them to put my backpack in the locker.

I stayed behind a corner until I saw them leave. Walking over to put my things away I silently hoped they'd choke on their already three hours old pieces of gum. I know how girl gum chewers work. I left the locker room and headed over to the volleyball gym. I ran my eyes through the court and still didn't see a brooding redhead. I felt hand touch my shoulder and I jumped, "Hello Miss Haruno!" I stared at my probably near deranged teacher as he talked to me with that overly masculine voice, "Feel free to do what you like, Mr. Sabaku has not shown up for class today." He explained, "Also notice my handsome manly features." Um.. No. I'm only a child. I looked away inconspicuously for as long as my eyes would allow but I had to see them, they were so distracting! I turned my head back quickly to take a look at him. Whoa, almost gave myself a whiplash there. _Eesh_! This guy had some real eyebrows going on, he waved them up and down as he smiled at me.

"Um.. Okay. Very nice." I said rather nervously. Really though, Gai was a strange teacher. I picked up a basketball after he released me from his caterpillar eyebrows. I'm not a very talented athlete, so dribbling the ball was difficult because I couldn't keep the ball in one place. Shooting had to be the toughest, I missed every shot from every angle, no matter what the distance. Come on! I have to at least make one basket before class ends! I backtracked my steps to find where my tries were the closest to being successful. My feet planted on top of the second outer ring and I bent my knees slightly to prepare for the shoot. If I make this shot, then I can survive anything this school throws at me! I can do this! I–

"Incoming!" A girl called out as I tried to make a basket. A volleyball rammed into my basketball and knocked it off course. This is definitely a sign. She ran over to grab her ball and then stared at me for a second, "Sakura?" Eh? I turned.

"Temari?" I recognized the beautiful oldest Sabaku sibling. We don't have the same class, what's she doing here?

She came up to me for a hug, "Hey! What's shakin'?" Temari ruffled my hair up a little. My hair, now. I sighed quietly.

Fixing myself up I replied, "You know, just some basketball." I twirled the ball as I slightly tossed it in the air. "How about you? What are you doing here?" How weird would it be if a brother and sister shared a class together unless they were twins? I guess I really can't say much about that though, I'm an only child.

"I just so happen to be a teachers' assistant." The blonde said as a matter of fact. I made a face, how did I not see her on Friday then? "I only T.A. for Gai on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. If you were wondering." She laughed. Oh, okay. Now I get it. I nodded at what she had told me. I decided to ask her about Gaara and why he wasn't here.

I tried to sound casual about it, "How come Gaara isn't here today?" Hearing my question made Temari drop all expression but surprise. I ignored her reaction and tried again to get the ball into the hoop at least once.

"He must be ditching." She guessed, did she not pay attention as to what goes on with her brother? The youngest no less? "Gaara does that a lot. Don't be surprised if you saw him in one class and not another." She pretended to smoke an invisible cigarette. He wouldn't really waste all of that time on smoking would he? That's gross, and incredibly unhealthy. I touched the skin on my neck. "We're thinking about homeschooling him." She said with a spark in her eye. That didn't look good.

I didn't want to make it look like I cared, why should I anyway? Gaara isn't my boyfriend. What matter is it to me that he disappears without a trace? Although.. I replied, hopefully my voice not betraying by the let down by hearing the things she said, "I understand." I shook my head. I must be out of my mind. I'm much stronger than this. I needed to drop the subject, "Want to play with me?" I asked gesturing to the ball and started dribbling around her.

She tossed her ball aside, "Sure." Upon replying she also let down her just passed shoulder length blonde hair and I could have sworn the angels were singing. It reminded me of Ino, boy these girls were so pretty here. I tossed her the ball and we played, somehow I was given some kind of skill because I was in fact able to play an actual game with Temari. Unless she was making it easy for me, and that probably really was the reason. We were playing for about fifteen minutes and then Temari looked like there was something she wanted to talk about with me. Eventually the game closed to a halt and she wiped the sweat off of her forehead. "Good game." She said.

"Thanks." I breathed, taking a seat on the floor and wiped off some sweat too. Temari came over and joined me on the floor. She crossed her legs and turned to me with a water bottle in her hands. "So, what's up?" I asked casually, it looked like there was something on her mind.

She studied the water bottle, turning it over and around, "I've been hearing some things." So I was right, she didn't come over to just play a game. "Konohamaru says you jumped him at the party, or something like that." That stupid liar. I can't wait to get my hands on him. I rolled my eyes, and Temari's didn't meet mine while she spoke. "I wanted to invite you to Kankuro's surprise birthday party. It's in a couple of days.. I'm just not sure, because Konohamaru's coming too." Her voice fell as she mentioned that dumbo's name again.

My eyes widened a little. Did she think that I would try to do something to him? "What's wrong?" I looked at her intently and she looked back. "I didn't jump him if that's what you're thinking." I replied, "He's repulsive, Konohamaru violated _me_!" It made me wonder how many people I would have to be telling this to. Temari looked surprised, "I had to force him off..!" I told her getting a bit riled about it. Talk about me and him had to stop. However, something in my voice seemed to calm her second thoughts, but she also appeared upset.

"Oh, Sakura. I'm sorry." Her eyebrows furrowed, "You see.. I'm trying to talk to you about this because, he's telling everyone else a different story." Ugh! Boys and their retarded egos! Even Gaara had a _way_ better personality than this guy did. I wanted to die.

"Everything he's telling them isn't true then. That's just plain ridiculous." And it was! We both could have gone through our lives without anyone knowing what happened. It's not like any one saw him getting beaten to a pulp under my foot. I regret not doing it in public.

She nodded at my words, "I'm sorry, I just had to ask. So then will you accept my invitation? I know Kankuro will be glad you came," She winked, "I can pick your sexy ass up." I laughed, what she said sounded like something Ino would say. Would I really want to go though, if that nasty Konohamaru came? Would everyone get over his rumor by then?

I had to think about it. Probably not. We _are_ in high school anyway. Although, if I don't go, it would be like letting him win and I wasn't about to let that happen. "Sure, I'd love to come." I replied smiling. One more incident with him and his head is mine to chop.

"Great!" She said popping the top of her water bottle open and drank from it. Temari finished drinking and handed me the bottle and I took some too. Not just a moment later the school bell rang. At last, I thought. "Want to walk to the girl's locker room together?" She reached toward me to help her up.

"Yeah." I said, maybe if Temari walked with me the other girls would keep their lonely mouths shut. She linked arms with me and we headed to the locker room and Gai –however he was able to get there so fast, stood before us.

"Sabaku, Haruno." He started, with a hand on his hip and the other showing us a thumbs up, "Nice game today! You seem to attract the Sabaku's to yourself don't you Miss Haruno?" Miss Haruno? Somehow I liked the title, but attract the Sabaku's? Temari looked surprised too and she looked at me. "Please let Gaara know he has a four mile run to make up." He finished with a big smile, there was that flash again. Eesh. "See you ladies tomorrow!" He didn't always have to yell, we can hear him perfectly from four feet away.

My friend laughed, "See you around Gai." She said as we finally left the gym. The locker room was loud and alive with gossip; talk about boys, rumors about other girls and mostly Sasuke Uchiha filled the place. "I'll be right back, gonna grab my clothes." Temari told me as she ran off to get her things. I walked to my locker and there were those girls again. I sighed and tried to ignore them. Twisting the lock to and fro, they started talking, I took out my backpack and it felt unusually light as I held it. Quickly I opened the overall flap and saw nothing inside. All of my things were gone! Everything but Gaara's sweater and his creepy notebook.. Temari came back and her head tilted, "What's wrong?" She asked me while I just sat there dumbfounded. "Where are your clothes?" I didn't bother to close the locker door or the flap. Her eyes roamed over both and then at me. Question answered. She didn't ask about Gaara's things.

"Apparently I don't have any." I said trying to hold back shaky words. I could feel it welling up in my chest. We could hear a girl from afar say, 'Hmph. Serves her right.' Temari sat next to me and pat my back. "It's okay, I'm fine." I said. I didn't need anyone to feel sorry for me, it only makes it worse.

She understood what I meant and got to her feet, "I have clothes you can borrow, or if you want I can take you home." She took my wrist and helped me up. Some girls were surprised at Temari's kindness towards me, we looked over to the side at a girl who 'Hmphed.' to herself. I saw my clothes in her hands as she stuffed them into her locker. Girls really knew how to be cruel around here didn't they? Stealing each other's clothes like that, how did she even get passed my lock? Konohamaru can't be that important, Sasuke clearly was the hottest guy in school and Naruto was definitely the most fun, plus the Sabaku family was the wealthiest. Who was Konohamaru? I couldn't see his face –so there was no way he was attractive. "What's on your mind?" Temari asked as we crossed the girls locker room, while every other girl stared and talked.

I caught up and stood next to her as she went through the process of getting clothes for me, "Who is Konohamaru?" I asked quietly, I don't know why I tried to keep my voice down. She pulled out a red skirt and a white t-shirt with a bright red dot in the middle.

"You really _don't_ know that scum bag, huh?" She answered giving him a new name for what he had done to me. "He's the governor of Konoha's, son. He's not hot, but he's cute, but mostly his title catches the attention of girls –other than Sasuke or occasionally Naruto." That was surprising, that jerk was worse than Gaara because he was worried about his reputation. How weird. She continued his explanation, "Being the governors' son has its privileges. That's why they like him. Anyway, go change." If I didn't know any better, I'd say Temari had just given herself away –did she like Konohamaru? Is that why she was unsure about inviting me to her party? This gossip must have been affecting her too.

"Thanks Temari, I owe you one." I thanked her and changed, with a friend around I didn't have to hide myself in the bathroom stall again. I slipped into the skirt and pulled down my shorts and stuffed them into my side backpack. Pulling my shirt over my head I asked another question, "How old is Gaara?" Turned to Temari who was leaning against a wall of lockers near her own. I put on the shirt she gave me and went to look at myself. Not bad. The shirt really accentuates bust size, I had to smile.

She handed my backpack to me and we began walking to our other classes, "He's sixteen. Probably a tad older than you though. Gaara's a junior because of our parents –my dad put him in school a year early." For some reason, thinking or talking about Gaara had me oddly interested in learning about him. "Yep." She finished.

I didn't want her to stop, so I asked, "Why?" As we began up some stairs, I didn't hear as many girls talk about Konohamaru and I much more.

"Um, well I'm not really sure." She answered. Oh. "Sorry, he's my brother and all, but I don't really feel comfortable talking about him." She explained and it didn't look like it either. But why? Every person I ask seems to either not know something, or just leave me hanging. What the heck? "I'm heading off now, but I'll see you tomorrow." The blonde incited as we made it out to the main hall. I really didn't want her to leave.

"Okay then. See you later." I sighed with a smile, she threw her arms around me and ruffled my hair. Did everyone have to do that? As she left I stood in the same place until the second bell rang. I hate my life. I concluded.

The next two classes were pretty boring, except they came with a twist of scary with each dirty look I was given. Knowing that one person knew the truth gave me comfort, save Ino, Hinata and Tenten. I was able to knock off the feeling these other people were trying to give me. Not only that, I was able to answer every question our teachers had given us –when we weren't taking notes. Too bad that was the only activity we had in each class, it was all too easy. After two hours of knowing everything and showing it off to the rude other students along with my teachers Baki and Asuma. They were nice though, they must have appreciated the fact that at least one person knew what the lessons were about. I stood from my desk, placing my backpack on the top. I traced my fingers around the edges of the opening and I thought about the jacket that Gaara left for me earlier. I unclasped the top and opened the pack. He didn't have to, but it was nice of him to leave it for me. Did he not want me to be cold? A small smile came to my lips and without thinking about it I took out his cigarette scented jacket, brought it to my nose, and sniffed it. The smell of cigarette smoke was so strong it was like smelling clean clothes caked with the fresh smell –but his was the opposite. This is insanely gross, I thought as I opened the jacket to wear for the rest of the school day, but I didn't want to seem too comfortable looking half naked. Temari's skirt was really short, and the shirt didn't make it much better even though it made my boobs look good. I sucked in as much air as I could so I could put it on, after doing so I zipped it up halfway. Somehow, it made me feel like Gaara was my boyfriend.

Walking out of the classroom I ignored the stares and what not. It was just one thing after the other, talk about Gaara being my boyfriend, and being falsely accused of seducing Konohamaru. I found the nearest elevator that would take me to the spot where the girls and I sit for lunch. I saw Hinata all ready with her food in front of her when the mechanical door opened, "Hi there, Sakura!" She gently called. What a sweetheart, she looked so cute with a sandwich in her hands.

"Hey chickadee!" I said smiling as I went over, and took a seat beside her. She squinted at Gaara's jacket for a quick second, she was so fast I almost thought I imagined it. She took a bite of her food and smiled. I heard a loud voice and could tell it was Ino, she and the others were in line buying their lunch. They noticed us and waved, then Hinata and I returned their hello.

Our pale shorthaired friend took a sip of water from a bottle she had, "How are you?" Handing over a bag of chips to me, I shook my head as polite as possible.

"I'm good, it's just been a long day." I said unwinding and now all on the floor. She looked down on me and smiled again. Footsteps came closer to us, the rest of our group had arrived. Tenten's face hovered over mine after she took over the spot next to me, and Ino gasped, noticing the hoodie again, maybe I shouldn't have put it on. I sighed getting ready for a barrage of questions.

"Y-you're wearin–" She tried as Tenten slapped her hands onto Ino's mouth to stop her. Ino calmed down and huffed. "What are you wearing Sakura?" She asked instead, the other girls noticed something too.

"Weren't you wearing other clothes today?" Hinata asked for the rest of them. Ino started eating, but I knew she was waiting for an answer.

I thought about what to tell them for a moment, "Yes I was, but my clothes were taken from me during gym. I don't exactly know who took them but all of my stuff is gone.. Aside from this." I told them deciding to just tell the truth, I pinched a part of the jacket to show them. "Obviously, as you all know this is Gaara's jacket, but let me tell you now that there is _nothing_ going on between us." I explained and then lightly pulled the hem of the skirt, "Luckily, I ran into Temari and she let me borrow these clothes."

Tenten nodded her head and slurped a half mouthful of ramen noodles, "That's good enough for me." She said setting a pair of chopsticks above the cup, "I'm sorry about your clothes though. That really sucks. You've only been to school for two days and everybody's already giving you hell for something you didn't do. It's just not right."

"We've been trying to calm down the rumors.." Hinata added.

"Yeah, we've got your back." Ino said tossing a bag of little chocolate crackers shaped like hearts toward me. "Eat this up, it's yummy. And you know what? The kids here are lame, don't worry about them." She assured me. A really warm feeling came to my chest and I just wanted to run into their arms.

I couldn't help it, my nose turned a little runny and I had to sniff, "Thanks guys. It means a whole lot." I said before choking my words. They all came over to me and we all hugged.

"We love you babe. We're going to friend all over you!" Ino said nuzzling her face into my cheek. I giggled and held back tears, it was a strange combination. After about three minutes of friend cuddles we all went back to our normal positions and I sat up from the floor. I brought the smelly cigarette jacket sleeve to my eyes and wiped them.

Our bun haired friend noticed my tear wiping and expressed a thought she had on her face. "I bet Ino will be quiet once and for all if you can just tell us something about you and Gaara. Anything." She prompted, sipping the ramen soup she had. "We won't hold anything against you. If you like him, then you like him. If not, then cool." That's a relief. "We just need some detail." Nevermind. Ino nodded almost furiously, thank goodness that she just kept her mouth shut.

"Well, we're just partners. For the most part." I said and I started feeling hesitant. Then I looked at Ino, "After we went to the library, I invited him over to my house, as I've already told Ino." Slowly my words came out and all three of them stared attentively. I can't tell them. I can't. I closed my eyes tight, "And then he let me borrow his notebook!" I screamed. It came out like word vomit. Their faces and bodies settled down, the pressure of suspense was enormous in this moment. I could even feel my heart trying to pound its way out of my chest.

"Okay, and now about the jacket?" Ino asked a lot less intense than before, she stuffed chips in her mouth and watched me try to explain things. Keeping it short was easy, at least the worst part was over. I can make it out alive after lunch!

It felt easier talking about it now, so I continued, "Okay now, about the jacket, I really don't know." I tried to lie, he's not my boyfriend and he's not nice to me. The first thing that came to mind jumped out of my mouth "I don't really know why I have it. He probably dropped it or something." Dropped it or something? Um, "I fell asleep this morning after coming to class –he probably came in super fast to get something and it fell on me and he didn't care to get it. End of story." I finished and reached up to steal a chip from Ino. I looked at them all and they each nodded satisfied. I sighed happily, now, if only this were the atmosphere earlier then all of this could have been avoided.

Stomping feet coming from more than one person on the lower staircase came closer to our spot –it was like a stampede. The next thing we knew there was an ambush of testosterone. Standing all before us was the infamous Sasuke who had actually come last because he walked, with his hands in his pockets, totally aware of Ino's love stares. Neji casually sat beside Tenten and wrapped his arm comfortably around her waist as if he'd done it so many times before. Then there was Naruto standing next to Sasuke with a huge grin, he found a small space between Hinata and I and stole a seat. I tried to take a peak at Hinata and saw a huge blush blaze her cheeks. I giggled, saved by the boys.

"H-hello Naruto." She said making a little more space for him. Ino was completely hogging Sasuke, he didn't really say much.

"There is going to be a party next week. Kankuro Sabaku's surprise birthday party." Neji told Tenten as he eskimo kissed her cheeks to make her giggle. He had also said it loud enough for all of us to hear. "I hear we're all to bring a date." He said rather sweetly, and all the girls squealed. All except for me. I hate having to dance with other people, slow dance anyway. I just learned how to dance normally, but with another person? Eh. Not only that, but what is this business about bringing a date? Temari didn't tell me anything about that. I pulled the sleeves of the sweater over both of my hands and studied the color, while I heard everyone asking each other to go as their date to the party. The black in this jacket was wearing but it looked pretty cool, I noticed as I studied the jacket a little more, obviously Gaara wore this a lot.

Naruto threw an arm around Hinata's shoulder, "So Hinata, I was wondering if you'd like to be my date." Uh oh. She was already blushing from him being next to her –this could murder! "I thought it would be really fun if we went together!" He told her enthusiastically.

I'm sure we could all see how much strength she had to conjure up just to say, "Yes." She took a breath and tried to calm down, "I think it would be really fun too, Naruto. Pick me up at?" Okay. Now I believe that all of us except for Naruto was more than just in shock that she had said all of that without passing out.

We all looked at the blonde boy. He took a moment while rubbing his chin with his index finger, "How's eight? Right on the dot." It was incredible! Hinata was able to look right at him!

Then we all looked at her, "That is perfect." She replied, even smiling! The smile on his face got even bigger, it was pretty cool how Naruto could smile as big as he wanted and still look cute. Now, that their business was over it turned out that it had all been planned, at least the guys had planned it. It was by default that Neji and Tenten would already be going to the party together, and with Naruto it was a half surprise but it turns out he and Hinata got the date that they were after. Then there was Sasuke, and I was sure who he would be asking, it was only natural that the most attractive guy in school would ask the most beautiful girl in school.

It was so apparent that Ino couldn't wait, "Sasuke, will you go with me? We would definitely be one of the best couples!" She asked excitedly, it was almost like she knew he'd say yes because he was already going to ask her. Each happy couple, not including me all stared at them now.

"Yeah, sure why not." Sasuke shrugged while wearing that smirk. The blonde squealed and had no care for those with exposed ears around her. She had finally gotten Sasuke to go out with her, perhaps not as a boyfriend, but they were really doing something together outside of school. He looked at Naruto for a second, "Do you want to book the limousines or should I?" Oh, so this was a formal birthday celebration. This made things a whole lot worse.

Ino laughed while she clinged to Sasuke's arm, "I think you should, last time was a di_saster_!" She emphasized the two last syllables of her last word and then looked at Naruto, "No offense."

"That _was_ pretty bad Naruto, you scheduled them a day later and none of us could drive our cars." Tenten threw in that last piece and winked at me.

I laughed and the blonde boy blushed, "That was completely by accident! I have no idea how to do that kind of stuff! " He folded his arms and made a face at her. "Hinata will surely vouch for me! Right Hinata?" He looked at her, she looked a bit dizzy. Neji sat against a wall and had Tenten in his arms, they waited as Sasuke and Naruto dealt things out.

"Y-yes, I'll vouch.." She said quietly, the poor girl, she probably agreed with the rest of them, and then she looked at me, "Sakura, you still need a date." Trying to save the conversation from becoming ridiculous.

Sasuke looked at me and quickly back to Ino as she spoke, "Oh shit! Sakura you need a date!" No, I don't. I can go my whole life without a date. I thought about what I just said. Okay, maybe not my whole life. Maybe just my high school life. Yeah, I can see the benefits of that. I pondered those thoughts for as long as I could. Hopefully if I didn't talk about it with them they'd let it go. I was wrong. "For the rest of the time we have here at school till the week break we'll try to find you someone to go to the party with!"

I put my hands up, "No Ino you don– "

"Nonsense! We're gonna do this!" I tried turning away to run if Sasuke was able to distract her, she gripped the hood and held onto me. "Don't try to weasel out!" Everyone laughed. Did they not get it? I don't want to go with anybody! It's totally unshameful to attend a party without a date. "The bell is about to end lunch, we'll talk about this after school." Ino finished. Too bad I knew she was serious.

The bell rang unbearably noisily, and I jumped just as surprised as I was on Friday. I swear, if that bell doesn't kill me, Gaara will. What a fool, he shouldn't skip school like this. I needed to find him and I knew that Temari wouldn't be of much help. I'd have to trek up to his house. No matter. Other than constantly dodging the subject of Kankuro's party and me being 'Absolutely in need of a date.' The next couple of days were pretty normal, the same screaming and bossy Anko. The late but merciful Kakashi, Gai as always, being the youthful lecture gym teacher and the rest all the same. Except for one thing. Gaara still wasn't coming to school, I had checked his smoking spot almost everyday and he still didn't show up. I had also tried to scrounge for some courage to go see him at his house and still no luck, instead I would try to find other things to do when it came up to it. I even washed his smoky jacket. It took a few tries to get the cigarette smoke out. Ino stole my schedule sheet and learned my classes so she and the girls would know where to find me just in case someone would try to assassinate me at school for what happened with Konohamaru.

I'm so glad it's Friday now.. I thought to myself starting at the clock. There were five minutes left until our week off, I couldn't believe all that time I wasted looking around for Gaara, and yet I still didn't think he was a lost cause. Today has to be the day when he and I meet again, I have to get to his house for sure this time, and if not, tomorrow or the day of the party. In the corner of my eye I caught a hand waving outside the main door of Iruka's classroom, and then a girl with blonde hair appeared in the small window. Oh, Ino. I rolled my eyes. It was a really lucky thing that she had gym as her last period, they were allowed out early. I waved back at her trying to match her energy. She waited outside the door and then ducked under the window with her phone up with the time. Her fingers counted down, three, two, one –and the bell.

"Have a great weekend and break everybody! Be safe, make good choices and I will see you all on the following Monday." Iruka called out as people filed out of the door, they made a pathway for Ino as she came in through the door to come see me.

"Hey Lil'Mama!" She greeted happily and hugged me as I stuffed a new binder and other things into my backpack. The girls from gym still didn't give me my things back and I decided I wasn't going to wait for them, I slipped the strap over my arm and we headed out, "How was Iruka's today?" Ino asked when she hooked her arm around mine as we walked through the hallway. Pretty boring, you saw me do nothing.

"It was normal, but how was your overall day?" I replied as we passed and waved at our friends goodbye. We headed down stairs to meet up with everyone at the parking lot. Neji was giving Tenten a piggyback ride and walking around as they waited for us.

She answered as we came closer to them, "It was pretty good, but all I could think about was going dress shopping! You know?" She said cheerfully, "I can't wait to show off for Sasuke!" And I could swear that under her breath she sighed, 'Mrs. Sasuke Uchiha.' I looked at my lovesick friend and she was now in another world, it was strange what feelings for boys could do to girls our age. I feared for Ino.

"Hey guys!" Tenten said as we reached them, "Naruto and Hinata are grabbing the cars, they should be here pretty soon so get ready to head out." She smiled and kissed Neji's neck in front of us. Okay, now that's uncomfortable, public display of affection is fine, but it's a bit weird when you watch your friend do that kind of thing. I looked away casually.

Ino smiled and basically sang, "Aw! You guys are just so cute!" And pinched Tenten's and Neji's cheeks. Her boyfriend rolled his eyes and smiled when the bun haired girl whispered for him to just go along with it and he relaxed, she kissed the other side of his neck. I thought about Gaara when I saw Tenten and Neji together like that, I could just barely recall his lower lip brushing my neck and I blushed. I needed to see him, and clear things up before I exploded, not only that but I swear if I didn't see him for another day I would not have enough restraint to keep away from his creepy notebook. Didn't he want it back? Gaara was technically playing the role of a ghost now.

"Ah, here they are now." Neji said nodding his head left, Naruto was driving his yellow Camaro and Hinata behind him with her car obviously –although I had never seen it before. She had a white Nissan Quest minivan, watching someone like her drive that thing was cute and I smiled. Really quick every one jumped into either car, there were other people waiting to leave the parking area and I stood there for a moment. Should I find Temari? What if she could take me to her place if I used the biology project as an excuse? Would she buy it? I looked around quickly and the only one I saw was Kankuro. I'll take my chances.

"Sakura! You coming?" Ino called with half of her body hanging out of the front passenger's seat in Hinata's car. They motioned for Naruto to go on ahead.

"I have to do something real fast!" I said hurrying to catch up with Kankuro, "Meet up with you guys later!" I said over my shoulder as I kicked up my speed. The Sabaku boy was just about to climb into his car, "Hey! Kankuro!" I called before he closed the door, he looked around and then saw me coming over. He turned to stand out of his car, how polite.

He closed the door, "What's up Sakura?" Leaning against the door. My hand rested in my side backpack and two of my fingers traced Gaara's now clean black hoodie and his notebook. Can't back out now.

"I was wondering.." I replied and started feeling nervous, "Could I come over today?" My eyes went down. I looked up again and the brown haired boy seemed a tad surprised. I answered the question on his face, "Gaara and I are working on a biology project and I thought it would be a good idea if I came over. Instead of him having to drive all the way to my place.." It looked like he was thinking about it for a moment, so I went on, "He's expecting me today anyway. Wouldn't it be nice to surprise him?" I lied, but maybe it was the truth though, shouldn't he be expecting me to come over after everything that's happened? I was going to throw every question I had at him and not care about what that silly redhead was going to do about it, he dug this out himself.

"Sounds pretty legit to me." He concluded outside of his mind, and he smiled at me. "Hop in." He motioned for me to come over to the front passenger's seat and he went around the back to get the door for me. I walked over slowly, hoping I made the right choice. With any luck I didn't just set myself up for death. His hand held the door open still and with his free arm he asked for my backpack, "Let me get that for you." He offered kindly.

"Thanks, Kankuro." I replied after getting in, as I fastened my seatbelt he open the door behind me and set my backpack down. He walked back over to his side and got in too. "So how was your day?" I asked him trying to be polite.

"Not bad." He said turning the keys in the ignition, "I'm just glad school's out for a week. I could use a break, you know?" He laughed as he added more, "Also the fact that it's my birthday next week helps too." Turns out, Kankuro was a nice guy when he wasn't drunk, how cool was it to have such awesome siblings? It was quiet for a moment until he got an opportunity to back out and head toward the exit. "What about you? How was your first week of school?" Terrible, honestly. Except for my perfect friends, and awesome teachers –everything else sucked. People still treated me like I was a criminal.

I looked at all of the kids who passed us by as he drove, I imitated him, "Not bad, I'm just glad school's out for a week. I could use a break, you know?" We both laughed. "Except it's not my birthday." I shrugged, and he made a gesture of, 'Ah, well.' Looking out again I saw Temari climb into her car as his reached the way out of the school parking lot. As soon as it was clear enough Kankuro stepped on the gas pedal a bit more in the direction of their house. The car ride wasn't too quick, but it was pretty fast. Easy enough to deal with though, I saw other classmates in their cars and with parents –teachers too, all on their way home or whatever they had planned to start off the weekend. Driving a bit through the city we made it to a stop light at the slope of the mountain where the Sabaku's lived. In the daylight the mountain area felt a little more safe to drive through. I recalled the street race the girls had on the way to the party last Saturday, nope, not pretty. "You all have a beautiful home, Kankuro. It's gorgeous." I said trying to make conversation, the quiet atmosphere was a bit awkward. The light turned green and he began the drive up.

"Thanks a lot. Our parents worked pretty hard for it." He said trying to sound modest probably, everyone had said that all of that money came from inheritance, rights and of course work too. "The views at night are pretty slick if you ask me." He said. As we got higher up the mountain I had to pop my ears again. I started to get nervous as we got closer to their house, I had to take a few deep breaths. "Hey, you okay? Lookin' kinda pale there." Kankuro said when he had a quick look at me while at a stop sign. I looked over at him and nodded that I was just fine. I noticed more houses on the mountain and they were pretty too, nothing like Gaara's mansion but still very lovely. A few minutes later we made it to that last corner, nervousness caught my breath and when he turned the size of the mansion appeared a whole lot bigger than it did that night. "Here we are!" He announced driving through their large round driveway and into his section of the garage he and his siblings shared. I looked to the right to see if all of Gaara's motorcycles were parked in his area. There were only four.. Where could be be? "All _right_y, so he's not home yet. If you'd like, I can wait with you in the foyer." He offered as we got out of his car. I closed the shotgun door and opened the one that was behind me to grab my backpack.

I didn't want to be alone while I waited so I had to accept, "Yeah, sure." He headed to the door and held it open for me as I caught up to him. I turned back one last time before walking inside –I don't know why, maybe I was just hoping that he would make it before we went in. Nope. Upon entering I was reminded of their flawless home –minus thousands of kids. The entire mansion was a heavenly white and just –so elegant! I couldn't say a word for probably about a good ten minutes, my eyes gave myself away I'm sure. They had 'Awe.' written all over them. Kankuro lead me to a seat near the front hall. Even the chairs are beautiful! Hot darn! They were so nice I didn't feel worthy enough to sit on them. "Do I just?" I asked standing before a couch.

"Yeah, have a seat." He said and I sat down. "Oh, let me grab you something to drink." The brown haired boy found a small remote and pressed a button. "I normally don't do this but, it's a special occasion." He said winking at me and I rolled my eyes playfully. A minute or so later what looked like a maid came over to us with a silver tray holding two glasses of lemonade for us, and two small cups of chocolate truffles. That's a funny combination, lemonade and chocolate? I laughed quietly to myself and accepted the refreshments. "Thanks a lot." He said for the both of us and she disappeared somewhere in the house. "I just thought also that it would look ridiculous if I ran all the way over there and kept you waiting." That made sense, it'd probably take a good ten minutes to get to the kitchen and back.

I shrugged, "Well, you do what you gotta do." And smiled and took a sip of the lemonade, it was the best I've ever had, "Wow, this is –is your house like, perfect?" Was I in heaven? Then I thought not because they sheltered the spawn of the devil. I drank more, the sweet and cold drink felt nice even as it went down my shaking throat. I was still nervous about meeting Gaara while at his house. If he killed me here no one would know, we're on a freaking mountain, and all he'd have to do is toss my body from the mountain side. I shivered at the thought.

"Well you know– " The entrance where he and I came through slammed and I flinched, the bang had the noise traveling through the halls. I didn't even hear anyone drive into the big garage door. Sound proof walls, very nice. "I think I might know who that is." A small but firm echo of footsteps came clearer, "Yep, you're in luck." Kankuro looked back smiling at me, but I could see a chill run through him.

I looked over and I saw a scowling redhead in dark clothes stop almost halfway across the hall. Oh my god. Gaara. My heart skipped a beat as a huge rush of memories crashed into my head, involuntarily recalling the heat of his body on mine. The sudden thought gave me a whiplash and I was blushing. Kankuro stood up and turned to his younger brother, "Hey Gaara, what's up man?" He asked with a small tinge of fear in his voice, I wouldn't have been able to tell if it hadn't been Gaara he was talking to. The tormenting redhead didn't return his brother's greeting, he just glowered at him. He then turned to my near frantic form and from what I could see from this far away it looked like he glared even harder at me than he did at Kankuro.

He tried to talk to Gaara for me, "You have a gues– " But he didn't wait to listen to his brother and began walking up the grand staircase. What an ass. I scratched the back of my head when he looked back at me, we waited until he was out of sight. "I'll just take you to his room.." I nodded and took my backpack with my drink, "No, it's okay I'll take care of that. Are you sure he was expecting you?" He halfheartedly teased, but I didn't say anything, "Well uh, follow me." He waited until I was ready to follow.

"Oh, kay." I said, the time it took to walk all the way up to the staircase felt like forever, and when we got there I took my time on every step. It was sort of funny how Kankuro looked more afraid than I was, but why would anyone have to feel the need to fear their sibling? I tried to forget about it by focusing on their luxurious home, just like that Saturday, it was like walking around a castle. We made a left down a hallway, next a right, then kept going straight and all the while neither of us said anything. None of the doors around us were open, and only paintings, hall tables and occasional phones beside a vase of arranged flowers were made visible. We came to a stop and I accidentally bumped into my kind guide, "Sorry, Kankuro!" I said automatically with my hands up.

He shook his head, "It's fine, don't worry about it." Then knocked on what was most likely Mr. Angst's door. "Gaara? Sakura is here, you guys are supposed to work on a project right? She's right outside waiting for you." There was no answer in return. "Just wait here, he'll come I'm sure." He told me almost thoughtful, "Maybe he's just cleaning his room. Good luck in there –I mean have fun." Kankuro whispered the last part as he walked away quickly. Um. Okay? I waited outside of Gaara's room until I couldn't hear his older brother walking anymore. Is he going to allow me in? I wondered as my fingers almost touched the handle, he wouldn't mind if I came in right? He knows I'm out here.. My other hand squeezed the one strap my backpack had harder and harder as I slowly turned the knob, I pushed the door open just barely and I opened my eyes to see through. He hadn't attacked me yet, so I stepped inside. His room was dark and the walls were a rusty blood red color, he had a bed surrounded by magnificently carved mahogany and it was larger than life! The ceiling was high and the walls were wide, and he had a plasma screen theatre television on one of them. Shit. I took off my shoes and left them outside next to the door and walked in, the wooden floor was smooth and slightly chilled my feet. This room look like it was made for a prince but was colder than an igloo, how could Gaara survive three minutes in here without getting frost bite! I searched around his opaque chamber and I found an extremely high tech computer and a large office desk, finding him hunched over and scribbling. Looks like someone bought a new notebook.

I quietly set down my backpack and cautiously walked over to him. "Um.. Gaara?" I asked and his body stiffened. When I got close enough to him I was able hear his breathing, it was light, but strenuous. He stood from his desk and as he turned to me the pencil from his hand rolled off the edge when he set it down. What the? My arms held myself as I took a half step away from him. He took in a long breath and harshly exhaled, his eyes piercing mine.

**- - - - - -**

**OOoooOOOooh! Now, this is exactly what I was talking about at the end of chapter five! We're going to learn a lot about our green eyed wonder, (Of course as I use that phrase you all know I mean Gaara!) I hope you're ready for twists and turns and loopies! So with nothing in my way I'm going to be gushing out lots of exciting new chapters, I have such a good feeling about chapter six –I've already gotten fives pages started so in about a day or so that will be out and ready to read! ^_^ Today is my little sisters Fourteenth birthday so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to write but I'm gonna do what I can! Thanks for your patience!!**

**Crazy questions! What is Gaara going to do? Will he answer Sakura's questions finally? Is he going to murder Sakura right on the spot? (Not likely. This is their story.) What about Kankuro's birthday bash, will Sakura end up with a date, and if so, I wonder who it'll be! And might Gaara be jealous? Or will he himself have his own date? Will he even go? Who knows? Also look for the answers to the questions from the end of chapter five and see what happens in chapter six! **_**Lots**_** of GaaSaku action! Are you ready?**

**Until we meet again! :] Byebye!**


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